Fourteen players from the West Bridgford-based Special Olympics East Midlands Tennis Group will be among a bumper entry of 48 players from the length and breadth of Great Britain competing at Nottingham Tennis Centre, this weekend.
The players will be in action on May 10th and 11th in the second of a new series of regional learning disability tennis tournaments organised by the Tennis Foundation.
The Tennis Foundation’s Learning Disability Tennis Regional Series Midlands is the second of four tournaments in 2014 that will lead up to the 11th National Learning Disability Tennis Event back at Nottingham Tennis Centre at the end of October.
The first in the new series of events was held in Welwyn Garden City in March, when Nottinghamshire players Scott Brown, Joseph Eccles and Alex Eustace all won gold medals in the singles events, with players competing in round-robin groups against others of like tennis ability.
Nottingham-based players won several more singles and doubles medals in Welwyn and will be aiming to repeat those successes this weekend on home soil.
After this weekend’s regional tournament in Nottingham, the next two events will be in Wrexham in July and Glasgow in September before the finale of the season for the players at Nottingham Tennis Centre in October.
“We are very excited to bring the Tennis Foundation Learning Disability Tennis Regional Series to Nottingham Tennis Centre, with the city having hosted two of the biggest annual tournaments for learning disability tennis players in recent years.” said Tennis Foundation Coach Lesley Whitehead, who is also Tennis Coaching and Competition Advisor for Special Olympics Great Britain.
“In recent seasons at this time of year there has been a highly successful tournament at West Bridgford Tennis Centre, which has attracted players from all over the country. This year we have a record entry of 48 players from Scotland down to Folkestone who will be vying for the medals.
“We are always looking to increase the number of playing opportunities for learning disability players across the country and show that tennis is a fun sport for players of all abilities that has a multitude of health and social benefits.
“Opportunities are available at local, regional, national and international level. Some of the players that will be in Nottingham this weekend represented Great Britain at the Euro Tennis event in Luxembourg last year and we are also working towards preparing players for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2015.”
Find out more information at http://www.ldtennis.org.uk/.