Sixty primary school children took to the courts at Parkstone Grammar School last week for a ‘Tennis Festival’ organised by the award-winning Poole School Sport Partnership and supported by the Lawn Tennis Association and Tennis Foundation.
The festival was the latest initiative from Poole School Sport Coordinator Deborah Wheatley who received the inaugural Schools Tennis Award from the LTA at the British Tennis Awards last November. Wheatley was praised for improving access to tennis for 900 five to 19 year-olds from 45 primary, secondary and sports colleges in the area, and Poole was recognised as one of the top performing SSPs in the country for tennis.
The Poole Partnership also ran a Year 3 & 4 Mini Tennis Schools competition, while 33 schools in Poole and 138 in Dorset have benefitted from the AEGON Schools Tennis programme, run by the Tennis Foundation, which provides free equipment packs and tennis training resources to teachers.
“Tennis has proved to be a really popular part of both our participation and competition programmes,” said Wheatley, who received the 2010 Schools Tennis Award at the LTA headquarters in Roehampton.
“With the continuous support from the Tennis Foundation and the AEGON resources, the events have been easy to deliver to large numbers of children, in a variety of forms.
“Receiving the award was a real surprise, but I am proud of the work that we have been doing and it was wonderful to make the journey to Roehampton and see behind the scenes of a national governing body at work.”
The Tennis Festival at Parkstone showcased how the LTA and Tennis Foundation work with local SSPs across the country to enhance children’s access to tennis from a young age and increase opportunities to play regularly.
Tom Gibbins, Education Manager at the Tennis Foundation, was courtside to witness for himself the children’s enthusiasm.
He said: “It’s great to see first hand, some of the fantastic work that Deborah and the team at the Poole School Sport Partnership have been doing to introduce tennis to so many schools across Poole.
“This is a fantastic example of how AEGON Schools Tennis can make a positive impact across a whole town, in our continued drive to enhance children’s access to tennis from a young age and increase opportunities to play regularly.”
James Deem, Tennis Development Manager for Dorset and Somerset, also praised Wheatley’s work in increasing awareness of tennis and opportunities to play in the area.
“Deborah has had a huge impact on the number of children accessing tennis in schools in Poole,” he said.
“Her recent awards from Dorset LTA and the LTA/Tennis Foundation for her contribution to schools tennis are richly deserved. We are lucky to have such a dedicated Schools Sports Coordinator providing tennis in schools. I always enjoy working with her.”
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