{"id":16283,"date":"2021-02-17T15:19:19","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T07:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/?p=16283"},"modified":"2021-03-08T11:39:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T03:39:20","slug":"coaches-champion-inclusion-with-tennis-for-all-abilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/news\/2021\/02\/17\/coaches-champion-inclusion-with-tennis-for-all-abilities","title":{"rendered":"Coaches champion inclusion with tennis for all abilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

In conjunction with the Autism Association of WA<\/strong>, Cahoots<\/strong> and Blind Sports WA,<\/strong> coaches championing inclusive tennis programs<\/strong> have delivered summer holiday camps with increased participation opportunities for players of all abilities.<\/p>\n

Catering to children who are visually impaired, Ian Ketteringham<\/strong>, Director at The Tennis Pro<\/strong> worked with Blind Sports WA and Cahoots to facilitate tennis activities using modified equipment specific for people who are blind or of low vision.<\/p>\n

Having been part of the adult blind low vision tennis program piloted in 2020, Tennis Australia Coach Member Ketteringham says there\u2019s a lot to learn from delivering tennis to people of blind and low vision and that working with the children and team from Cahoots was incredibly rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s always great to offer tennis to new groups who might not have had the opportunity before. The benefits and learnings are two-way and so it becomes an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone involved\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018As a coach you\u2019re constantly needing to adapt your delivery so as to create an enjoyable yet challenging experience; and given the degree of variance in blind classifications, almost every participant requires a different approach,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s about finding the right challenge point for the individual and when you see what\u2019s possible under the right conditions, everyone walks away having accomplished something,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s a lot to be said for the passion and determination of people who are blind or of low vision. I witnessed it during the adult program and again with the kids, it was something that really stood out and something that really impressed me,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018And what was equally impressive to seeing the kids on court achieving things they never thought possible, was the encouragement and support offered by the amazing volunteers from Cahoots. The atmosphere they created was truly something else,\u2019 Ketteringham said.<\/p>\n

\u2018I enjoy the opportunity which comes from connecting with different people and always find that there\u2019s great learning to be had as a coach when you need to adapt your coaching techniques to suit the abilities of the participants,\u2019 Ketteringham said.<\/p>\n

Tennis Excellence Head Coach<\/strong> Mitch Vernon<\/strong> delivered a number of modified tennis lessons to teenage participants of the Autism Association of WA\u2019s Sports Academy, providing players with a safe learning environment to ensure a positive tennis experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with the students from the Autism Association\u2019s Sports Academy program was a great experience,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had nine students of varying abilities join in the sessions and for many it was their first time picking up a racquet,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to see them all giving their best and having lots of fun in the process. I managed a 30-shot rally with one of the students, it was a rewarding moment for both of us,\u201d Vernon said.<\/p>\n

The programs delivered throughout January, are in addition to a number of ongoing inclusive tennis programs operating across Perth, including programs which cater to players with Autism, Down Syndrome and intellectual and physical disabilities. A full list of inclusion programs and providers is tabled below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Inclusion program <\/strong><\/td>\nCoach<\/strong><\/td>\nClub <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Autism, Down Syndrome and intellectual and physical disabilities<\/td>\nPerth Performance Tennis Academy<\/td>\nBull Creek Tennis Club<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wheelchair Tennis<\/td>\nPerth Tennis Academy<\/td>\nManning Tennis Club<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
People with an Intellectual Impairment (PWII)<\/td>\nBreak Point Tennis<\/td>\nSouth Perth Tennis Centre and Applecross Tennis Club<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Autism and intellectual disability<\/td>\nTennis with Justin<\/td>\nFloreat Park Tennis Club<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vision Impaired<\/td>\nThe Tennis Pro<\/td>\nNollamara Tennis Club<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Autism<\/td>\nTennis Excellence<\/td>\nBlue Gum TC \/Melville TC \/Wembley Downs TC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

For more information on inclusive tennis programs, please head to: www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/players\/inclusion-programs<\/a><\/p>\n

Tennis West acknowledges and thanks the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries <\/em>for its ongoing support of tennis in Western Australia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In conjunction with the Autism Association of WA, Cahoots and Blind Sports WA, coaches championing inclusive tennis programs have delivered summer holiday camps with increased participation opportunities for players of all abilities. Catering to children who are visually impaired, Ian Ketteringham, Director at The Tennis Pro worked with Blind Sports WA and Cahoots to facilitate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6203,"featured_media":16303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}