Since the tremendous success of the London 2012 Games, the desire to continue the legacy in the North East was truly evident at the ‘Inclusive Tennis Challenge Cup’ event, which was held Friday 17th May.
The inaugural event took place at Tennis World, Middlesbrough. The event saw 41 young people aged 11-18 from across the Tees Valley area take part in a range of tennis games and activities as part of the Sainsbury’s School Games. The School Games was created to encourage young people to play more competitive sport in school as part of plans to leave a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Players represented their area and schools below;
- Darlington – Beaumont Hill School
- Middlesbrough – Beverley School
- Redcar and Cleveland – Kirkleatham Hall Special School and Gillbrook
- Stockton - Bishopsgarth and St Michael’s, Billingham
Organisers Jo Cunliffe and Leslie Snaith arrived at the Middlesbrough based venue and the torrential rain overnight meant the courts were saturated. At one point there was a debate whether the event could take place. However Jo and Leslie were optimistic that the weather would clear up and it certainly did! When all the players arrived it was no coincidence the sun beamed down for the rest of the day. This was truly amazing and reflected the players smiles, energy and pure enjoyment throughout the day. Luke, one of the players even said for next year’s event we should call it the ‘Sunshine Cup,’ which described the inaugural event perfectly!
There was a massive help to support the event, which included 22 young volunteers. To help prepare the volunteers a ‘Tennis Leaders Day’ was held by Cleveland School Sport Partnership (SSP), which was ran by Leslie Snaith and coordinated by Pam Dodds. All of the Tees Valley SSP'S were invited to send 3 students from their Year 9 Leadership Academy with each area represented and a large number of them came from Laurence Jackson School, Guisborough.
Further thanks to the LTA, Tennis Foundation, Tees Valley Sport, Tennis World, the local School Games Organisers, Teachers, along with the Activity Leads on the day, Leslie Snaith, Steph Eadon, Wendy Glasper and Christine Klee.
The Tennis Factory and Skills Circuit that the young people took part in added to their team scores and following around 3 hours of fun packed action the final standings are below,
1st – Middlesbrough (Beverley School)
2nd – Redcar & Cleveland (Kirkleatham Hall Special School and Gillbrook)
3rd – Stockton (Bishopgarth and St Michael’s, Billingham)
4th – Darlington (Beaumont Hill School)
To have such an inspiring day for young people across the area will hopefully build upon the great work that has already seen Durham & Cleveland host a Schools Hearing Impaired competition along with an International Wheelchair event that have been running over the last 20 years plus. The ultimate goal is to encourage young players to gain an enjoyment of tennis and a taste of the game itself and the aim following the event is to encourage the young people into local places to play and programmes to continue enjoying the sport!
There has been a big push to set up and promote tennis programmes since the Tennis Foundation launched the ‘Disabled Tennis Strategy’ in 2012 and there are currently sessions and opportunities running at Sunderland Tennis Centre, Northumberland Club and Tennis World itself. These places along with all local Places to Play can be found at the LTA’s ‘find a court’ page.
Paul Williams, Schools Tennis Manager at the Tennis Foundation highlighted,
“A key priority for British Tennis is to grow the base of the game and that means more young people, playing more often. Good luck to all the participants at the School Games event this year and we look forward to seeing some of them take up the game following this inaugural competition in Tees Valley.”
For more information on the Tennis Foundation’s support for primary, special and secondary schools please visit schools tennis.
Please contact Jo Cunliffe on 0795 8233 715 or email Jo.Cunliffe@LTA.org.uk for further information about the event.
Photographs are of young people at the Presentation along with the Winners Beverley School (Middlesbrough).