Members of the North East Visually Impaired Tennis Club (NEVITC) have been celebrating their success at the inaugural National Visually Impaired Tennis Championships, as well as improving numbers participating in the game.

The club held an informal training session at their base at the Northumberland Club in Jesmond to give visitors the opportunity to meet members of the successful team that now consists of a national champion and ‘player of the tournament’ from the National Championships in Roehampton.

Two totally blind tennis players, nine partially sighted players and two volunteers from the NEVITC competed at the Championships at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.

David Deas is the club’s national champion after winning the mixed doubles with his London Metro Club partner, Christine Laurence. The pair beat Jim and Gill Currie 10-9 in a closely contested match.

A special award for player of the tournament was also awarded to Darlington based player John Hawkins-Waterfall. This award is presented to players who show outstanding performance and attitude, both on and off court.

There remains a shortage of local clubs for visually impaired tennis players nationwide but the Northumbria Club is the biggest in the north east. With around 30 members, including five fully blind players, membership has steadily improved and the club is now the second biggest for visually impaired tennis in the country.

Tennis for the visually impaired is played on a reduced sized tennis court and uses soft foam tennis balls which have a rattle inside to aid coordination for the players. Totally blind players are allowed three bounces of the ball and visually impaired players are allowed two bounces. If sighted players want to participate, they are only allowed one bounce. Players are never allowed to volley.

Deas first got involved in the club 16 months ago and has witnessed the club’s growth and development. When he first joined there were only three people in attendance. Nowadays, nine to 14 visually impaired tennis players play at the club on a weekly basis.

Deas claims the all-round attraction of keeping healthy and playing tennis on both a competitive and social basis has meant members of the club have benefitted greatly, with the club making “a big impact on our lives.”

Many club members are from around Newcastle and the surrounding area, but it also attracts players from further afield: some travel in from Yarm and Doncaster. Coaches have visited from Carlisle and Glasgow to learn about coaching and the facilities. Club chairman Graeme Manwell hopes to make visually impaired tennis a Paralympic sport, saying it has “gone from strength to strength, particularly in the last five years.”

Rosie Pybus, a member at the Northumbria Club for two years, feels she has benefitted greatly from her participation playing visually impaired tennis. Pybus praises the club in helping her remain healthy and to become more confident. By playing visually impaired tennis and being involved in such a social club, Pybus has developed the determination to push and to improve herself, saying “I can’t stress enough how much I owe to the sport.”

The clubs sponsors, The Adderstone Foundation, were on site to meet players and to support the club by donating £4,100. An Adderstone Foundation employee said it is “our pleasure to be involved in such a good cause.”

NEVITC Chairman and Northumberland Club Manager, Graeme Manwell, said that “the support, both moral and financial which we receive from The Adderstone Foundation has been invaluable.”