BLANDFORD Tennis Academy held the first edition of the Prosper Financial Solutions tennis cup, which saw Pimperne come out on top of six primary school teams competing in skills challenges.

This festival was the culmination of a five-week collaboration between Prosper Financial Solutions and Blandford Tennis Academy, which saw Simon Kevern, the BTA head coach, visit more than 200 Year Two students around the Blandford area to deliver five class sessions based around providing the students the skills necessary to be able to play the game.

Over this five-week period every student was introduced to the shots of tennis by progressing from throwing and catching with two racquets, to popping the ball up before being able to hit the full shots with a partner.

The top eight students were chosen from each class to represent their school in the festival which ended this tour, with the players taking part in a series of skills challenges to earn points for their school.

The festival took place with the help of 16 of Milldown Academy’s Year 6 students acting as sports leaders, many of the students having enjoyed similar sessions due to Milldown’s strong links with the academy.

Milldown pupil Daniel expressed how he had revelled in a coaching role.

He said: “I enjoyed being able to pass along the skills that I’ve learnt to the younger children. It was fun being able to act as the coach for a change and it’s something I would be interested in continuing to do as I get older.”

While all of the teams put in strong performances, getting a chance to show off the skills they have gained over the previous five weeks it was Pimperne Primary School who emerged victorious.

The trophy and winners medals were presented to the Pimperne players by the Lawn Tennis Association’s competition development manager Sam Kemp, and Prosper Financial Solutions’ Richard Bethell.

Blandford Tennis Academy has put a strong emphasis on creating team competition with the help of the Lawn Tennis Association’s team challenge scheme, with the academy creating more competitive opportunities for school teams to play together.

This new push puts more team spirit into an individual sport and goes a long way to pushing the academy’s strong community.

Following on from this Year Two festival will be a summer league for year three and four students, which will see Blandford Tennis Academy teaming up with Autotechnics to host a half-term league providing students with a chance to grow into the challenges of playing matches while also developing team spirit.

Following on from these sessions all the students who took part in the class sessions as part of the tennis tour have been invited to take part in a fun starter course as a part of the LTA’s Tennis for Kids scheme.

This is an introductory programme which allows children to take part in a six-week tennis course led by an accredited LTA coach, and receive a brand new racquet and ball set and a customisable t-shirt for £25.

The Tennis for Kids scheme was introduced in 2016 and since its inception has seen over 60,000 new kids completing this course, with over 100 players taking part in these sessions at Blandford Tennis Academy in two years.

For more information on Tennis For Kids and how you can take part please visit Tennisforkids.co.uk for session times and information or for more information on other sessions taking place at Blandford Tennis Academy please contact them on blandfordtennis@hotmail.co.uk

Blandford Tennis Academy thanked Prosper Financial Solutions for making this first big Year Two schools event a massive success and laying the path for this event to stay strong for years to come.

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