This Girl Can event in Exhibition Park, Newcastle serves up tennis.
Saturday June 13th saw Exhibition Park, Newcastle hosting a This Girl Can Tennis ’n’ Tea Event. The afternoon showcased varied versions of the game and also saw a Great British Tennis Bake Off. There was also prize draw which presented 3 of the players with free tennis lessons and shopping vouchers!
The event was an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon for everyone and it was great to welcome such a unique tennis and social opportunity in the North East. It is in conjunction with Sport England’s This Girl Can Campaign, which is being powered locally by Active Newcastle.
Sport England’s ‘This Girl Can’ campaign is aiming to encourage more to get involved in sport, by creating events up and down the country, exclusively for women. Research by Sport England has shown the gap between male and female participants is getting bigger, with 1.75 million few women than men taking part in sport regularly. This is despite “over 70 per cent of 14-40 year-old women wanting to be more active.
Jo Cunliffe, Regional Tennis Participation Manager is excited about the unique event,
“The event was the first of its kind and it was fantastic to meet so many women who were new to tennis. Their energy and sheer enjoyment was great to see, which saw them take part in Cardio Tennis, Tennis Xpress and coaching. There are so many opportunities to get involved in the various versions of tennis across Newcastle and it was inspiring to hear a number of the women say they were going to continue playing after Saturday’s event!”
Rachel Williamson and Sarah Johnson who are Active Newcastle’s ‘This Girl Can’ Ambassadors were thrilled by the event,
“To be involved in such an inspirational programme for women is really rewarding, and to see the ladies enjoying the tennis at the event at Exhibition Park was brilliant. This is one of many opportunities for women to give different activities a try and we are looking forward to the next one!”
To find out more about the tennis offers across Newcastle please contact Jo.Cunliffe@LTA.org.uk or visit activenewcastle.co.uk.
