MORE than 1,000 young people from across Dorset took part in 10 sports as part of the nationwide Sainsbury’s School Games Level 3 Festivals which are being held this month.
There are 46 county festivals taking place in the country over the summer and more than 25,000 primary school pupils are taking part in the schools tennis competitions.
Dumpton emerged as the winners of the tennis event, while pupils from Sunninghill, Thornlow, Mudeford Junior, Stourfield Junior, Dumpton, Yarrells, Abbey, St Katherine’s, Heatherlands, Christchurch Junior, Wyke and St Josephs were victorious in their local borough or partnership year 3 and 4 mini tennis red competition to earn their place in the School Games finals.
Tennis development manager James Deem said: “This was a fantastic event that was the tip of the iceberg of 17 different qualifying schools events across Dorset this summer.
“My thanks go to all the coaches, club and school games organisers who have contributed to hundreds of children being exposed to the sport through this project. It shows that there is really good work going on at the grass roots level of the sport.”
Paul Williams, schools tennis manager at the Tennis Foundation, added: “School Games Festivals provide a great opportunity for school pupils to pick up a racket, many for the first time, and supports British tennis’ mission of getting more people playing tennis, more often.
“With more than 16,300 schools supported through the Aegon Schools Tennis programme with free teacher training, resources and equipment and 50,000 primary and secondary school pupils playing in schools tennis competitions every year, there’s never been a better time to get involved.”
The School Games were created to encourage young people to play more competitive sport in school as part of plans to leave a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.
Young people taking part in the School Games will have the chance to compete in a range of Olympic and Paralympic sports with competitions progressing from school to national levels.
For more information on the Tennis Foundation’s support for primary, special and secondary schools, visit www.schoolstennis.org
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