Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre is ensuring the London 2012 legacy continues as they have teamed up with the Lawn Tennis Association and Tennis Foundation to introduce over 3,000 pupils from Hackney, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Newham schools to tennis in the last six weeks.
Tennis Development Officer, Richard Love and a team of coaches from the Paralympic venue in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park have been delivering tennis taster sessions in local schools.
Richard Love, Tennis Development Officer said: "I worked here during the Paralympics, I was a Games Maker and team leader for the field of play. Coming back now and seeing the centre, it's got so much potential. Over the next few months and years it's going to become an amazing centre to come and play tennis at and I really wanted to part of that.
"Locally there's not been an awful lot of tennis up to now. There are a few good tennis clubs in the area that are giving children and adults the opportunity to play, but none with the amazing facilities we have here.
"We're going to have our challenges, there are many kids that haven't tried tennis before but I'm out in the community at the moment and going into schools and when they try it for the first time they are absolutely loving it.
"This week alone we have had community groups, holiday camps, coaching sessions and casual bookings both indoor and outside. All the players have commented on what a fantastic facility it is and how lucky they are to have something like this in their community.
"We're on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which again is another inspiring place to be.
"We're getting people from all over the world wanting to play here. Obviously in November we've got the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters so we've got the world's best men, women and quad wheelchair players coming down to play.
"People want to play here not just local players but from further afield and it's just set up perfectly to be a world class venue.
"The majority of kids I see have never picked up a tennis racket before. But once I show them which end of the racket to hold and they have a go they actually realise it's not as hard as they think.
"They assume it's quite a difficult sport to learn but with the different variations with mini tennis with the spongy balls and shorter rackets we're able to give them a really good first experience."
Find more information on Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre and book a court here.
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