Wheelchair tennis stars Antony Cotterill and Alex Jewitt have been inspiring the latest generation of players as they attended the ParalympicsGB Sports Fest in Sheffield.
Cotterill, who last month was named in the Great Britain team for the World Team Cup in Antalya, Turkey at the end of May, and Paralympian Jewitt helped coach disabled people at the two-day event last weekend.
With the chance to "Try the Sports, Meet the Medallists, Get Inspired" Cotterill, who has recently broken into the world's top ten wheelchair tennis players in the quad category, offered advice to those attending the day and showed how accessible wheelchair tennis is.
And Cotterill was confident the legacy of the London Paralympic Games was still strong and was delighted to see so many people trying out wheelchair tennis.
"It was a fantastic day and I had a really good time meeting everyone and showing them how to start playing wheelchair tennis," he said.
"It is so important to continue the legacy of the Games and it was inspiring that there were so many young people getting involved and clearly enjoying themselves – for me that was really rewarding to see.
"Wheelchair tennis has given me so much and it is a fantastic sport to keep fit and I just hope everyone who gave it a go will keep it up in the future."
The inaugural Sports Fest took place in Surrey last December and was a rip-roaring success with over 1,000 people attending over the course of two days.
Sports Fest features come-and-try sessions for the vast majority of Paralympic summer and winter sports and meet the medallists sessions, where attendees have the opportunity to ask questions, meet the athletes and receive autographs.
Tennis Foundation Disability Development Manager for the North, Dave Hillier added: "It was great to work with the British Paralympic Association to get so many people in Sheffield trying wheelchair tennis for the first time and they all seemed to really enjoy it.
"With so many tennis venues now offering sessions for disabled people across the country, we were able to offer local opportunities for people to carry on playing in their area and a number of them were keen to take tennis up regularly."
The ParalympicsGB Sports Fest will go to different regions in the UK in 2013 and 2014. Find out more about upcoming Sports Fests (link opens in new window).
Share