National recognition for club’s disability programme
A TENNIS club has been recognised for its exemplary disability programme, winning a national award at Wimbledon.
Desford Lawn Tennis Club won Disability Programme of the Year at the Lawn Tennis Association’s British Tennis Awards, held at the All England Club.
Desford is paving the way for disability tennis which is thriving across Great Britain. The club’s accessible approach has greatly increased opportunities for people with disabilities to play, volunteer or work in tennis.
Head Coach Alec Matty was presented with the club award at a lunch attended by HRH Duchess of Gloucester, tennis legends Jo Durie, Mark Cox and hosted by broadcaster and former British No. 1 Andrew Castle.
This year saw a record number of public nominations with 1,460 in total for the awards, covering 10 different categories including two volunteer of the year awards, coach of the year, and club of the year.
Nominations were drawn from 25,000 volunteers, 4,400 coaches, 940 officials, 20,000 schools, 2,800 clubs and over 9,700 LTA approved tournaments from across the country, demonstrating the true calibre of these finalists and winners.
Alec Matty said: “We started with nothing ten years ago and had to go out to the community to try to attract people to join the club.
“We want to make tennis accessible and affordable and inspire people to play the game.
For a small village club to win a national award is incredible and we’re all very proud. It’s fantastic to be here.”