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Welwyn to host NEC Wheelchair
Tennis Junior Camp
11 October 2002
Eigtheen young wheelchair tennis players
between the ages of four and 18 will gather at the Puma Tennis
and Bowls Centre, Welwyn Garden City this Sunday, 6th October,
for a junior development camp sponsored by telecommunications and
electronics giant NEC and organised by the British Tennis
Foundation.
The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Junior Camp will give the players
the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of wheelchair tennis,
one of the world's fastest growing wheelchair sports, including
basic racket strokes and chair manoeuvrability, while also
getting an introduction to matchplay through some fun games.
It is hoped that the camp will give rise to some talented players
who may go on to be successful in national and international
competitions. Among them there may be a future home grown winner
of the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships. The
British Open is one of only three tournaments to have the
equivalent of Grand Slam status on the international NEC
Wheelchair Tennis Tour, which is also sponsored by the Japanese
company through its corporate support of initiatives for people
with disabilities.
The coaching for Sunday's camp will be led by Martin McElhatton,
who is Chairman of the National Wheelchair Tennis Association of
Great Britain, as well as an experienced coach and player.
Among those assisting Martin will Welwyn wheelchair tennis player
Sandra Jamai, who only took up the sport herself in the spring
after attending a NEC Wheelchair Tennis Ladies Camp. Sandra
took part in May's National Championships, just two months after
her first taste of the sport, and now plays regularly.
Sunday's Junior Camp is the third of three days focussing on
tennis for people with disabilities at the Puma Tennis and Bowls
Centre, with Friday 4th and Saturday 5th devoted
to a Disability Awareness Course for coaches, again organised by
the British Tennis Foundation
The course will include awareness training for coaching
wheelchair tennis, tennis for deaf people and tennis for people
with a learning disability, with pupils from local schools acting
as pupil demonstrators for the coaches on the course.
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