All four Special Olympics Great Britain medallists at this year’s World Summer Games in Los Angeles are among an entry of more than 50 players set to take part in the Tennis Foundation’s National Learning Disability Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Organised in partnership with Special Olympics Great Britain, the three-day tournament features round-robin singles and doubles competition between players of a similar tennis ability on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Now in its 12th year, the National Championships see many of the country’s leading learning disabled players compete at Nottingham Tennis Centre for the second time this year after the Highfields venue hosted one of five Tennis Foundation Regional Series tournaments in May.
The entry for this year’s National Disability Tennis Championships includes Aiden Leighton, Oliver Beadle, Laura Campbell and Lucy Porteous, who won five gold medals and a bronze medal between them in Los Angeles.
Aiden Leighton, Oliver Beadle and Laura Campbell completed the world’s leading multisport participation event for athletes with a learning disability with singles and mixed doubles gold medals, while Lucy Porteous added a women’s singles bronze medal to the mixed doubles gold medal she won partnering Leighton.
Leighton is one of a number of athletes from the East Midlands Learning Disabilities Tennis Team based at West Bridgford Tennis Club in Nottinghamshire who will be aiming to gain more local success after the East Midlands Team won seven gold medals, seven silver medals and three bronze medals at the 2014 National Learning Disability Tennis Championships.
“We made history in 2014 when the National Learning Disability Tennis Championships were held over three days of competition for the first time to cater for all the groups and ability levels and we have another fantastic entry,” said Tennis Foundation Coach Lesley Whitehead, who is also Special Olympics Great Britain National Tennis Coaching and Competitions Advisor.
“The calendar of Tennis Foundation Regional Series events has increased from four to five tournaments in 2015, giving the players the benefits of more competition and opportunities to demonstrate the talents they have developed at their local clubs. On the back of the tremendous success of our four GB players at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles in the summer it’s a very exciting time for learning disability tennis and we are looking forward to a fantastic weekend of tennis in Nottingham.”
The National Learning Disability Tennis Championships take place at Nottingham Tennis Centre from Friday 30th October to Sunday 1st November. To find out more about learning disability tennis go to www.ldtennis.org.uk. For more information about Special Olympics Great Britain visit www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk.