Tennis for people with a learning disability receives Royal seal of approval
Tennis for people with a learning disability was given a massive boost today as Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Gloucester, visited the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Learning Disability Tennis Competition at Westway Sports Centre in West London.
The Duchess, who is the Honorary President of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), was joined by the Chairman of the Tennis Foundation, Jonathan Lane, and the Deputy Executive Director of the Tennis Foundation, Joanna Farquharson, to view the event.
For the second year running, the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games and the Tennis Foundation joined forces to expand sporting opportunities for hundreds of disabled young Londoners. The event saw 14 London boroughs represented at the event for competitors with mild and severe learning disabilities aged from 11-14.
Defending champions Stormont School from Hackney once again took the title after defeating Westminster's Quintin Kynaston Community Academy in the final. Garratt Park School in Wandsworth finished third and Meadow High School from Hillingdon came fourth.
The competition saw boys and girls compete in ten-minute matches on mini courts with 16 volunteer Tennis Leaders from the University of East London helping to organise and umpire the matches. In the lead-up to the event, the schools taking part have also enjoyed free weekly coaching sessions for young competitors funded by the Tennis Foundation in partnership with the LTA.
Joanna Farquharson said:
"Her Royal Highness was delighted to visit Westway Sports Centre and not only meet the players taking part in the competition, but also the staff and coaches from the Tennis Foundation, Westway and the London Youth Games, who have worked so hard to put on the event. Events like this show the legacy from London 2012 in action and the Tennis Foundation is committed to working with our various partners to provide opportunities for all disabled people to have fun playing tennis."
As well as the Disability Tennis competition, the London Youth Games also includes two non-disabled tennis events - a mini tennis competition for primary school children and a team tennis competition for secondary school children.
View the full results from the competition here.
Find out more about learning disability tennis here.
