Thousands of young athletes from across the country are picking up a racket and playing competitive tennis as part of the School Games Festival this month.
Seven schools from across Nottinghamshire were victorious in their local borough or partnership Year 3&4 Mini Tennis Red competition to earn their place in the School Games.
There are 46 county festivals taking place across the country over the summer of which tennis is a part of 43 and more than 1,000 young people took part in 13 sports at the Nottinghamshire Summer School Games Level 3 Festival.
Tennis was one of the highlights of the day with Underwood C of E Primary School (Ashfield) emerging as the winners.
Tennis Development Manager, Andy McFeeters, said: “It was a fantastic atmosphere created by a huge multi-sports event. The tennis event was played in a great spirit with some really close, competitive matches and congratulations go to Underwood School for a first-class team effort.”
Paul Williams, Schools Tennis Manager at the Tennis Foundation added: “A key priority for British Tennis is to grow the base of the game and that means more young people, playing more often. Congratulations to everyone who participated at the School Games event this year and we look forward to seeing more even schools and young people taking part in the years to come.”
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.
Young people taking part in the School Games will have the chance to compete in a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports with competitions progressing from school up to national levels.
For more information on the Tennis Foundation’s support for primary, special and secondary schools please visit www.schoolstennis.org
In the picture gallery:-
Bishpam Drive (in black)
Dean Hole (in yellow)
St Philip Neri (in grey)
Lady Bay (in lighter green) - Silver
Whitemoor (in dark green)
Woodborough Woods (in blue) - Bronze
Underwood Primary (in light blue) - Gold