January 2014 saw Active Newcastle (AN) along with the Tennis Foundation (TF) and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) link up in a launch event at Sir Charles Parsons (SCP) School aiming to get more children and young people with disabilities playing tennis.
Baroness Grey-Thompson attended the event, which also announced her becoming a trustee of the TF. In the short term four local special schools will receive a free training course from which they gain some tennis equipment courtesy of the TF. Following the course they will each get four weeks of mentored coaching with their schools from Level 2 Qualified LTA coaches and student volunteers from Northumbria University.
The culmination of these sessions will see a festival of tennis at Active Newcastle’s Walker Activity Dome. After this initial set of sessions the link up plans to offer this to more schools and organisations around Newcastle to get more people playing tennis.
Joanna Cunliffe from the LTA explained:
‘Sir Charles Parsons School is part of a wider plan for Newcastle, which includes working with many schools to increase the amount of tennis opportunities across the city. The Tennis Foundation and LTA are currently working with the local School Games Organiser as well as Newcastle City Council’s Raising Participation Team to coordinate an Inclusive Tennis Teacher Training programme.
In addition to the schools project our work with Newcastle City Council has been invaluable and seen a number of new programmes introduced. This includes the Active Newcastle Tennis League, inclusion of tennis in StreetGames and Hat -Trick programmes along with the sport being introduced to a number of local community groups at Walker Activity Dome.’
To get more information about the scheme contact either:
Neil.Curry@newcastle.gov.uk / 0777 1555 978
Or
Jo.Cunliffe@LTA.org.uk / 0795 8233 715
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