PARALYMPIANS LEND SUPPORT TO NEC WHEELCHAIR TENNIS LADIES CAMP

Two of Great Britain's successful players from the Athens Paralympics will join the 14 women attending an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Ladies Camp this weekend  (12^th - 13^th February) at the City of Nottingham Tennis Centre.
 
The two day development camp sponsored by telecommunications and electronics giant NEC (UK) Ltd and organised by The British Tennis Foundation gives new players the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game, including basic racket strokes and wheelchair manoeuvrability.
 
Martin McElhatton, Chairman of the National Wheelchair Tennis Association, will lead the coaching during the weekend, assisted by Stuart Wilkinson, coach of British Men's No 1 Jayant Mistry and Mark Bullock, Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer for the International Tennis Federation.
 
Assisting at this year's annual NEC Wheelchair Tennis Ladies Camp will be Peter Norfolk, winner of Great Britain's first ever Paralympic Gold medal in wheelchair tennis when he won the Quad Singles in Athens, and Kay Forshaw, who beat a former Paralympic champion in Athens en route to the quarter-finals.
 
Lynn Parker, Disabilities Tennis Manager at the British Tennis Foundation, said: "To have 14 players for this year's NEC Ladies Camp is tremendously exciting and I'm sure that having Peter and Kay join us during the weekend will be of great inspiration to our new players.  The aim of this weekend's Camp is to generate further interest in the game and encourage the players to carry on playing into national and international competition. We would hope that some may even return to Nottingham in the summer to play in one of the women's draws at the British Open."
 
The British Open, which this year takes place from 25^th - 31^st July, is one of only four tournaments on the 2005 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour to have Super Series status, the equivalent of Grand Slam.   It is also one of two world ranking events on the NEC Tour that the British Tennis Foundation organises at the City of Nottingham Tennis Centre. The Wheelchair Tennis Tour is also sponsored by NEC through its corporate support of initiatives for people with disabilities.
 
This weekend's NEC Wheelchair Tennis Ladies Camp is the first in a series of three NEC Camps being held at Nottingham Tennis Centre this year. Next month the tennis centre will also host an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Beginner/Quad Camp (12^th - 13^th March) and, a week later, an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Junior Camp (19^th - 20^th March), specifically tailored to Under 18s.