The Tennis Foundation (TF) will give young blind and visually impaired people from Berkshire the chance to try tennis at Bracknell Leisure Centre on Saturday, 19 February.
Bracknell is one of the first venues that the Foundation will be visiting to demonstrate how the sport is played and to give blind and visually impaired people the chance to get coaching by qualified coaches and experienced players.
The TF, which works in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), is aiming to expand the development and promotion of blind and visually impaired across the country after a visit to Japan in 2010 resulted in learning more about this rapidly expanding sport in the country where it was first conceived
Tennis Foundation Coach David Knipe and Alan Wetherly, an accomplished player and a member of Metro Blind Sports Club in London, will lead the session in Bracknell on 19 February. David and Alan were both part of the Tennis Foundation team that visited Japan in April 2010, where their visit included meeting the founder of blind and visually impaired tennis, the late Miyoshi Takei, who passed away earlier this year.
The Tennis Foundation has linked up with Berkshire County Blind Society to encourage young people aged between seven and 17 to come and try the sport. The day’s session will run from 10.30am to 3.30pm and tennis rackets and specialist ‘sound balls’ that have been developed and refined in consultation with the Tennis Foundation will all be provided.
“Our philosophy at the Tennis Foundation is that tennis should be a game that is able to be enjoyed by everyone, with no barriers, and we are delighted to be bringing this relatively new sport to Bracknell,” said Claire Lavers, the Tennis Foundation’s Director of Disability Tennis, who was in the delegation that visited Japan in 2010.
“We have worked closely with Metro Blind Sports Club in London over the last year to develop a more robust and affordable ‘soundball’ and are particularly excited to be using this new ball at the camp. The ball has a sponge outer casing and with a tougher inner ball which rattles inside it so that players can hear it.”
Blind and visually impaired tennis is played on a court 13.4m x 6.1m, the same dimensions as a badminton court. Players work out their position on court by touching tactile lines on the court. One of the main rule differences is that players get either one, two or three bounces of the ball depending in their degree of visual impairment. Mini tennis rackets are used by the players and the specialist ‘sound ball’ allows the players to hear the ball and therefore judge its height, direction and speed.
For further details please contact: Becky Drew at the Tennis Foundation on 0208 487 7119 or 0845 872 0522 or becky.drew@tennisfoundation.org.uk.
To contact David Knipe in Bracknell on 19 February, please call 07971 007 287.
For all media enquiries, please contact Marshall Thomas, Disability Tennis Press Officer on behalf of the Tennis Foundation, on 0151 644 0282 or 07880 641 855 or marshall.thomas@btinternet.com.
Find out more about blind and visually impaired tennis
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