Pupils from two local schools came along to the National Tennis Centre to take part in a disability awareness course for the British tennis field team.
Paddock School in Roehampton and Linden Lodge School in Southfields brought along pupils with a mixture of learning disabilities and visual impairments to ensure the team became used to working with disabled people on court.
The field team were at the NTC as part of their ongoing training and over 40 staff took part in the course, which is being run more widely for coaches taking their level three qualification, as well as being offered as an option to those taking their level two.
The one-day course, run by the Tennis Foundation and LTA, is designed for people to develop an understanding of the practical considerations when working with players with a disability.
Coaches take away the skills and confidence to successfully integrate a disabled person into any tennis venue and provide suitable coaching activities to suit their needs.
Most of the pupils had no prior experience of tennis but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and after an hour on court had shown real progression.
Isabella from Linden Lodge School said, "I played a bit of tennis at my last school and I really enjoyed playing it again today and meeting all of the staff from the LTA and Tennis Foundation. I hope I can play some more now."
Daniel Absolon, the Tennis Foundation's Disability Development Manager, added, "One of our main aims is to break down the barriers for coaches working with disabled people and show that tennis is a completely inclusive and fun sport. Through these disability awareness courses, that's exactly what we do."
For more information on tennis for disabled people, please visit the Tennis Foundation website.
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