Watch a video from the event above (transcript coming soon).
Hackney's Stormont School were crowned the inaugural winners of the ground-breaking London Youth Games learning disability tennis competition yesterday.
They took the gold ahead of Hammersmith and Fulham's Cambridge School in a tight final while Croydon's Bencham Manor ended with the bronze medal as learning disability tennis made a highly successful debut as an official competition following a pilot demonstration last year.
Run in association with the Tennis Foundation to expand sporting opportunities for hundreds of disabled young Londoners, the competition at Westway Sports Centre near Kensington was a tense and exciting affair throughout.
Twelve boroughs were represented in the competition, while nine schools took advantage of free weekly coaching sessions funded by the Tennis Foundation, in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association, during the lead up to the tournament.
Having helped enable growth of tennis for disabled people with the free coaching sessions, plenty of children with mild and severe learning disabilities from years 7-9 took part.
David Hardman, Disability Tennis Development Manager for the South Region, said: "We really captured the essence of how the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has positively impacted on the legacy for inclusive sport across London.
"It was great to see kids from across 12 London boroughs taking part and picking up a racket. We hope to build on this momentum and increase the offer to more boroughs next year as part of the Tennis Foundation's wider work to provide more opportunities for disabled youngsters to have fun playing tennis."
After losing to Stormont 3-1 in the group stage Cambridge were awarded a rematch in the final but again the Hackney side proved too strong with a repeat of the score line in a hard-fought match.
And the winning team's manager David Vellala emphasised the importance of providing active competition for disabled people.
He said: "I've done a lot of school games before but not a learning disability one and it was a fantastic day.
"As a coach and a mentor you want them to enjoy the experience because you learn through engaging with it. On a serious note if we hadn't won it wouldn't have made any difference."
Listen to a podcast about the event here (link opens in new window).
Find out more about learning disability tennis here.
Find out more about the London Youth Games here (link opens in new window).
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