DISABILITY TENNIS IN BEDFORDSHIRE 2015

DISABILITY TENNIS IN BEDFORDSHIRE 2015

The development of disability tennis in Bedfordshire has been overseen by Richard Ball who is the Disability Tennis Manager at Riverside Tennis Club. His role is to deliver on an agreed Disability Tennis Network (DTN) programme which is drawn up with the help of David Hardman at The Tennis Foundation.  Alongside the delivery of DTN plan in and around North Beds, part of the role of Disability Tennis Manager at Riverside is to manage a budget allocated from Beds LTA to specifically support Disability Tennis provision in South Beds. Sara Leavy heads up the programme in South Beds and has been instrumental in the success of the project within the county. In recognition of her work and to provide better autonomy to Sara, The Tennis Foundation have agreed to fund 2x DTN plans in Bedfordshire for 2016 with the proviso that Sara and Rich continue to work in partnership to ensure that there is cohesion and that opportunities are developed in Central  Beds.

The new hub club for the South Beds DTN is Linslade which will provide a solid base from which to enable Sara to continue her work in the area.

If you are interested in playing please contact Richard or Sara on:

• richard.ball.sport@gmail.com

• sara_leavy@hotmail.com

Disability Tennis in Beds has continued to develop over the past 12 months in terms of number of players participating, types of disabilities we can cater for, number of venues used and partnerships that both Rich Ball and Sara Leavy have developed. On top of the regular coaching, the highlight of the year was our Disability Tennis Showcase with world #1 doubles player Jordanne Whiley in conjunction with Thrombosis UK.

This was a real boost to the programme and we have been able to use this as springboard to bring more players into the Autumn 2015 programme.

Disability Tennis Sessions in Bedfordshire

The annual programme is based around a number of weekly sessions that are run in blocks of 12 weeks. Some are organised blocks with external partners which are highlighted in purple eg Day Care Centres and some are standalone Disability Tennis Sessions run by the clubs which are highlighted in grey – these are jointly advertised in a Beds Disability Tennis Flyer which Rich has put together with Sara. Around these core sessions, Rich and Sara deliver ad-hoc tasters, showcase days, smaller blocks with partners and charity support days to increase awareness and market the programme (these are not shown below).

The programme for 2015 was:

124 disabled people are accessing tennis on a

weekly basis in Bedfordshire

In addition Richard Ball has also been working on a 1-1 basis with 3 players outside of the DTN sessions of which are showing great promise:

Gary (wheelchair tennis)- Received funding to progress his tennis as he makes a bid to cement his place in the GB development squad. Ciaran (hearing impairment tennis)- received funding for a new racket as he is one to watch fresh from competing in the National Deaf Championships. Graeme (wheelchair tennis) - has made the switch from electric wheelchair tennis to manual wheelchair tennis. This is truly a remarkable achievement for Graeme as he suffers with extreme Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

Could you be the next player ?

What was the impact of the Beds LTA Grant in 2015

In 2015 the Disability Tennis Network received £4125 from the Tennis Foundation and £3000 from Beds LTA to support the programme. This has helped us grow and set up the programme.

Proposed use of continued funding from Beds LTA

We firmly believe that the growth of Disability Tennis in Bedfordshire has been incredible since it’s inception in May 2013. The volume and type of weekly sessions being delivered are impressive and the ad-hoc sessions around these help to promote the game. This could not have been achieved without the continued support and funding from Beds LTA and the Tennis Foundation through Dave Hardman (South of England Disability Tennis Manager). Neil Frankel, Nina Bridge and  Michelle Astley have also been instrumental in steering and directing the programme.

If we are to continue to develop Disability Tennis Further throughout Bedfordshire, we will need to be mindful of improving sustainability of each of the tennis sessions. This will be challenging due to the circumstances that the vast majority of our participants are in, eg. Little or no income and in social care/living with parents. In some circumstances it is unrealistic to charge ‘the going rate’ for sessions especially where indoor court fees are associated and we feel it important that subsidised tennis is the only option to help our players continue to enjoy their tennis with us.

A big thank you goes to the coaches and Neil Frankel at Riverside for all his support for the programme,   it is intended to grow it further. I hope all the players, supporters, carers and parents enjoyed the tennis.

If have missed something or you think that we can provide some further disability tennis please get in touch. If the format of the document is not easy to understand , or you need another version please let us know.

If you are interested in playing, volunteering or helping we would like to hear from you.

• richard.ball.sport@gmail.com

• sara_leavy@hotmail.com

see you on the court soon

Best Regards

Rich Ball – Disability Tennis Manager

Sara Leavy – South Beds Disability

Neil Frankel –Director of Tennis. Riverside LTC

November 2015

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