The Westway Sports Centre was a hive of activity as it hosted the annual Balfour Beatty London Youth Games learning disability tennis final.
Boys and girls, aged 7 – 9, with mild to severe learning disabilities from across 20 different London boroughs gathered at Westway to serve up an exciting tennis final on the centre’s mini courts, all desperately hoping to be crowned champions.
A touch of royalty was added to the occasion as the Duchess of Gloucester attended the day to congratulate the talent on offer and present the champion’s trophy, which after a well-fought match, was awarded to Stormont School from Hackney.
The Duchess, who is honorary president of the Lawn Tennis Association, was joined by the chairman of the Tennis Foundation, Jonathan Lane, and the deputy executive director of the Tennis Foundation and trustee of Westway Development Trust, Joanna Farquharson.
Farquharson said: “Her Royal Highness was delighted to visit the Westway Sports Centre and not only meet with the players taking party, but also the staff and coaches from the Tennis Foundation, Westway and the London Youth Games, who have all worked so hard to organize the event.
“Events like this show the legacy from London 2012 in action and the Tennis Foundation is committed to providing opportunities for all disabled people to have fun playing tennis.”
To keep the day running smoothly, volunteer tennis leaders from the University of East London, along with three members of the British Tennis Youth Group, organised and umpired the competition schedule.
Lisa Pearce, director of sport and enterprise at the Westway Development Trust said: “Sports inclusion is integral to our social mission, so playing host to an event like this is very important to us.
“Sport is for all abilities and it’s been great to highlight how accessible these can be as sport. ”
To find out more about Westway Sports Centre and the disability sports on offer, visit www.westwaysportscentre.org.uk
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This post was last modified on 31/03/2014