The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and the Tennis Foundation awarded The Tony Blair Sports Foundation (TBSF) the national “Schools Tennis Award for 2012” on Friday.
Over the last five years, the LTA and the Tennis Foundation have worked with TBSF to develop Schools Tennis in the North East, particularly around the Primary Schools Mini Tennis Competition and by supporting young leaders and coaches.
The 2012 Tony Blair Sports Foundation Challenge Cup saw more than 2,600 children competing, from 334 primary schools across the North East, with Yarm Primary School emerging as the winners, at the grand final held back in July. In addition to this, a total of 10,000 children were supported with coaching in primary schools, as part of the wider programme.
Tom Gibbins, Head of Education for the Tennis Foundation said: “The Tennis Foundation and LTA are delighted to work in partnership with the Tony Blair Sports Foundation to help more school children play tennis in the North East. In recognition of the fantastic work the Foundation has done over the last five years, we’re thrilled to be able to present them with the Schools Tennis Award for 2012 and look forward to working with them in the years to come”.
Jeanette Pickard, Chief Executive of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation said “I am extremely proud to receive the Tennis Foundation and Lawn Tennis Association’s Schools Tennis Award for 2012 in the same year that we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation. Since 2008 we have worked closely with both the Tennis Foundation and the LTA to develop our Tony Blair Sports Foundation Tennis Challenge Cup competition for Year 3 pupils across the North East. It has grown substantially between 2008 and 2012, and next year we will be introducing another eight primary schools from the East End of Newcastle upon Tyne into the competition thanks to our partnership with Walker Technology College in this area of the city. I am delighted that we have been able to give more young people in the North East the opportunity to play tennis through our competition, and I look forward to continuing to build upon this success for years to come.”
The TBSF work with a small number of sports with tennis being the first to become involved back in 2007. Members of the local community can join the TBSF to be provided with a package of support to attend courses such as Tennis Leaders, Competition Organisers, Level 1 Coaching, Level 2 Coaching to then volunteer their time as part of local schools projects or at tennis venues. The Foundation is delighted to have supported 275 new Tennis Competition Organisers and 237 new Tennis Leaders between April 2011 and July 2012, to help support the running of the TBSF Challenge Cup, resulting in tennis being one of the biggest sports involved.
The event on Friday, attended by a number of sports stars and supporters of the Foundation, also marked the TBSF five year anniversary and also saw the launch of their new campaign, ‘Pass it on’. Find out more about Pass it On.
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