Thursday 16th March was a big day for us at Diversity Tennis as we hosted Bright Ideas for Tennis with the amazing Danny Sapsford and Stuart Wilkinson.
We also saw a hugely diverse group of people who have been or continue to be a big part of what Diversity Tennis is about.
The duo of Danny and Stuart were running a disability workshop, designed to give us, our volunteers, and our invited guests ideas and suggestions for our inclusive tennis sessions. Tkey also gave us an insight into some of the challenges some of our participants face. At one stage half of us were blindfolded and the other half not only had to guide but also to find ways to help someone who couldn’t see the ball, hit it!
The whole day progressed in the same way. It was a hands on session, where volunteers and coaches had to think outside the box. Suggestions and ideas were shared for a range of different scenarios and Danny and Stuart chipped in with ideas to make our planned sessions even better.
It was fantastic to see so many volunteers from Ely Tennis Club turn up and certainly Tim Arthur, Cambs LTA chair (who also rolled up his sleeves and got stuck into the various assignments!) was impressed by the large turnout, particularly as the March weather wasn’t the warmest!
The workshop had also been a great opportunity for us to meet up with other clubs who were keen to learn more about our inclusive tennis program and to take ideas back to hopefully start up similar initiatives there. Arif from Cambourne Tennis Club and Lawrence, representing Cambridge based Cocks & Hens wrote copious notes during the course of the day! Not to mention Ely’s chair, Rachel, who has been an keen supporter of Diversity Tennis.
Representatives from Highfield Accademy also turned up to support the event. It is children from there who were to be the initial beneficiaries from the Bright Ideas Charity and while Emma and Fiona had already been working with the children since January at the school, they were eagerly looking forward to the summer (when it finally arrived) and the chance to take their new found skills on the courts at Ely.
