Some of Haringey’s school pupils have today taken part in a special tennis tournament which saw five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave along with Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe in attendance to watch the pupils in action.
The tournament, organised by Haringey Council, saw the top four children from each age group from Lea Valley, St Paul’s RC, Coleraine Park and Lancasterian primary schools battle it out at the annual competition held at the White Hart Lane Tennis Club in Tottenham following the success of the AEGON Schools tennis programme that is currently being rolled out across the Borough.
Sir Steve, who is championing the drive to get more people playing sport as part of the lasting legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, arrived at the tournament so he could see for himself the work that is being done at school level to encourage more youngsters to get involved in tennis.
After watching the pupils competing, Redgrave was happy to answer questions from the children whilst also signing countless autographs for both players and parents alike at the facility in north London which has forged excellent links with the local schools with the aim of giving more school children the opportunity to take part:
“Wherever we develop tennis and introduce tennis to children, it’s really important that there is an exit route that is affordable and accessible,” said Paul Regan, Head of Education at the Tennis Foundation.
“In Tottenham, there are 20 primary schools that have been involved in tennis and I would guess that many of those children would never have played prior to us taking it into the school. 700 children from those 20 schools have registered with the White Hart Lane tennis club – 60% of those are girls and 90% are from ethnic backgrounds. And that’s exactly the kind of thing we want to see more of.”
In his new role as 2012 Sports Legacy Champion for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Redgrave will be helping to deliver on the promise to use the Games to motivate everybody to do more sport and will be visiting a number of sporting community projects across the country, no doubt inspiring the next generation of potential sports stars along the way.
Sir Steve Redgrave said:
“2012 is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change the habits of a nation and get across to everyone why sport and physical activity matters. This is a great responsibility but a great opportunity as well. I want to work with those who have the task of making sure the benefits happen from hosting the Olympics and Paralympics. A lot of good work has already been done – but there is no time to lose.”
James Ward's school visit