PERSHORE Tennis Centre has earned high praise from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for its disability programme encouraging sport for all.
Pershore’s head coach and county coach of the year Steve Bauer heads up Prime Tennis Coaching based at Pershore Tennis Centre.
He runs three types of disability classes – a weekly Down Syndrome class, a monthly class for New Hope Respite Centre and a weekly wheelchair session.
In partnership with Herefordshire & Worcestershire Sports Partnership and The Tennis Foundation, Bauer launched a wheelchair initiative to encourage everyone over the age of 14 with a physical impairment to learn new skills, get active and meet new people through tennis.
As a result, Pershore Tennis Centre was awarded the Disability Programme of the Year title in 2017 and runner-up in 2018 by Herefordshire & Worcestershire Lawn Tennis Association and is delighted to be able to encourage sport for all.
Further to the success of the courses, the club now runs a wheelchair session between 6-7pm every Tuesday, a monthly class for New Hope Respite Centre and a weekly Down Syndrome class on Saturdays from noon to 1pm.
Matt Elkington, Disability Development Partner at the LTA, said: “Our partnership with Pershore Tennis Centre and the work the team are delivering at the club is still relatively new considering our Open Court programme has now been running nationally for more than five years.
“They have completely taken on board the inclusive nature and ethos of opening tennis up. Everyone is welcome at the club and this is epitomised with the Down Syndrome sessions where they are developing a separate session for players who are wanting to compete and progress which is great news.
“The LTA is always keen to support registered venues to engage with disabled audiences and their families to offer the right tennis set-up!”
Bauer continued: “It’s an absolute pleasure to run classes like these and in turn encourage everyone to play sport. My passion is tennis and I’m genuinely delighted to support so many people to play tennis locally.
“If I can help anyone else to enjoy it as much as me and my members then I’d love to hear from you. Please do join us and join in.”
Call 01386 556677 or email Bauer directly at [email protected] to book your place on the wheelchair tennis course.
