Thousands of young athletes from across the country are picking up a racket and playing competitive tennis as part of the School Games Festival this week.
10 schools from across Oxfordshire were victorious in their local borough or partnership Year 3&4 Mini Tennis Red competition to earn their place in the School Games Final at Oxford University Sports Park.
There are 46 county festivals taking place across the country over the summer of which tennis is a part of 43 and more than 1,000 young people took part in ten sports at Oxfordshires School Games Level 3 Festival.
Tennis was one of the highlights of the day with Wychwoods Primary School emerging as the winners.
Tennis Development Manager Jo-Anne Downing said: “The Year 3&4 Mini Red Competition is a fantastic opportunity for primary schools to expose their pupils to the game of tennis while having plenty of fun! The format of the competition means that even those with limited experience can represent their school as part of a team. The number of children taking part in Oxfordshire continues to grow each year so I would like to thank all the players, teachers and School Games Organisers for supporting this event.”
Paul Williams, Schools Tennis Manager at the Tennis Foundation added: “A key priority for British Tennis is to grow the base of the game and that means more young people, playing more often. Congratulations to everyone who participated at the School Games event this year and we look forward to seeing more even schools and young people taking part in the years to come.”
The School Games was created to encourage young people to play more competitive sport in school as part of plans to leave a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.
Young people taking part in the School Games will have the chance to compete in a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports with competitions progressing from school up to national levels.
For more information on the Tennis Foundation’s support for primary, special and secondary schools please visit www.schoolstennis.org