A young wheelchair tennis player from Huddersfield has been enjoying rising through the ranks of the junior game. Last month, 10 year old Lucas Town had the opportunity to play at the Junior Wheelchair Nationals in Nottingham, despite having first picked up a tennis racket only a year before. The fun doubles event for up and coming juniors ran alongside the British Wheelchair Open event, which featured the world’s best wheelchair tennis players annually.
Lucas, who has cerebral palsy, began playing tennis last year as a result of the Give It Your Max programme. As part of the initiative, which aims to provide opportunities for disabled children to play sport, Huddersfield’s Newsome High School partnered up with nearby Longley Tennis Club to bring together a group of budding junior wheelchair tennis players. It was here that Lucas first picked up a racket: ‘Four of them started playing initially, explained Lucas’ mum, Gail. ‘Lucas has always been really active and his dad plays tennis so he was really keen to give it a go’. Alongside tennis, the year 6 pupil at Rowley Lane School in Huddersfield also enjoys swimming and football. With tennis now ranking amongst his favourite sports, Lucas, who uses a walking frame on a daily basis, now uses a wheelchair designed specifically for playing the game.
The British Wheelchair Open, organised by the Tennis Foundation, took place at Nottingham Tennis Centre in early August. The annual event showcases the world’s top professional wheelchair tennis players and is one of the biggest tournaments in the calendar outside of the Grand Slams. Lucas entered the junior event after some encouragement from Matt Elkington, the Tennis Foundations Disability Development Manager for the North. ‘Lucas needed a bit of convincing along with his mum but it was a great opportunity for him. Two years ago we only had one junior wheelchair tennis player but after a focused effort we saw 24 young players at this year’s event’ said Matt. Lucas was one of the younger players at the event with most of the participants being in their teens. ‘It was a really good opportunity for Lucas and the older players were really helpful, showing him the most efficient ways to move his wheelchair’ said mum, Gail. ‘He even got the chance to meet Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett who won the men’s wheelchair doubles at Wimbledon this year’.
Anyone interested in getting involved in wheelchair tennis can visit the Tennis Foundation website for more information: www.tennisfoundation.org.uk. The Tennis Foundation is Britain’s leading tennis charity which aims to make tennis more accessible and inclusive.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Suzzi Garnett – Regional Tennis Services Assistant – [email protected] – 0208 487 7040
• The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) mission is to get more people playing tennis more often, and its role is to develop, promote and govern tennis in Britain.
• The Tennis Foundation is Great Britain’s leading tennis charity with a vision to make tennis inclusive and accessible to all.
• Wheelchair tennis is a growing sport. Wheelchair players are able to play alongside non-disabled players – the only rule change from the traditional game is that wheelchair players are allowed 2 bounces instead of 1.
• The Tennis Foundation host regular camps and come and try sessions for wheelchair players all across the UK. For more information visit www.tennisfoundation.org.uk.
• For more information on the LTA and British tennis, visit: www.lta.org.uk For more information on the work of the Tennis Foundation visit: www.tennisfoundation.org.uk