NOTTINGHAM SET TO HOST
NEC WHEELCHAIR TENNIS LADIES CAMP

Sixteen women players are set to assemble at Nottingham Tennis Centre this weekend  (6 ^th - 7 ^th March) for a weekend wheelchair tennis development camp sponsored by telecommunications and electronics giant NEC (UK) Ltd and organised by the British Tennis Foundation .

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Ladies Camp will give beginner players the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game, including basic racket strokes and wheelchair manoeuvrability, and the chance to work on improving their skills during the weekend.
 
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, former General Manager at Nottingham Tennis Centre and now Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer for the International Tennis Federation.
 
Among the member of the National Wheelchair Tennis Association attending this weekend's Camp to hit with and encourage the beginners is Nottingham's own Laura Morris, who started her own tennis career via NEC Wheelchair Tennis Camps and has progressed in just a few short years to playing competitively.
 
Others to have emerged from recent NEC Wheelchair Tennis Camps are Nottinghamshire's own David Phillipson , from Bingham, and Eccleston's training partners Jamie Burdekin and Carl Hird , who have each gone on to achieve national and international success in a relatively short space of time (see Case Studies on Page 3).
 
Lynn Parker, Disabilities Tennis Manager at the British Tennis Foundation, said: "To have 16 players for this year's NEC Ladies Camp is tremendously exciting.  We hope that this weekend's Camp will stimulate an 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 20 ^th - 25 ^th July, is one of only four tournaments on the 2004 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour to have Super Series status, the equivalent of Grand Slam.   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 Beginner and Quad Camp is second in a series of three NEC Camps being held at Nottingham Tennis Centre this year.  Last month saw top British players Mark Eccleston and Jayant Mistry assist with the coaching at an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Beginner and Quad Camp, while an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Junior Camp, specifically tailored to Under 18s, is set to take place on 3 ^rd - 4 ^th April.