Features

Peter Norfolk

Wheelchair tennis course in Bromley

Bromley Tennis Centre is offering six week long courses for both Adults and Juniors, with the first three weeks of either course being offered for free.  A reduced price for the remaining three weeks is available to those who have joined the Tennis Centre’s own First Serve membership scheme. 

While the six week Adult course starts next Monday (20th February) and the six week Junior Course starts on Sunday, 26th February, a further opportunity to take up one of the fast growing Paralympic sports in the world is also available with once monthly wheelchair tennis sessions getting underway at Bromley Tennis Centre on Sunday, 5th March.  These sessions will also be free for the first six months.

Supported by The British Tennis Foundation, Kent Lawn Tennis Association, Bromley Mytime, Kent County Council and Kent Sports Development Unit, the upcoming programme got underway with the recent Open Day. 

Wheelchair tennis

Special guest will be Peter Norfolk MBE, GB's first ever Paralympic tennis gold medallist. He has been one of the top players in the world in Quad Wheelchair Tennis, for players affected in three or more limbs, since 2001. 

He has spent a long period as the World No 1 Quad Singles player and among the many titles he has won on the global NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour have been eight at Super Series status, the equivalent of Grand Slam.  The Athens Paralympics provided the highlight of his playing career in 2004 when he won the Quad Singles title as Quad tennis made its Paralympic debut.

Following Norfolk’s success in 2004, further honours and accolades followed in 2005, including being awarded a MBE in HM The Queen’s Birthday Honours List and being asked to perform the coin toss before the Men’s Singles final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick on Centre Court at The Championships, Wimbledon.  During Bromley Tennis Centre’s Open Day Norfolk was presented with a gift on behalf of the All England Lawn Tennis Club of a framed photo of himself on Centre Court with both finalists.

One of the driving forces behind the current initiative is local player turned coach Jason Ward.  Last year Ward, from Orpington, formerly one of Britain’s top Men’s players, became one of a growing number of wheelchair players to gain the Lawn Tennis Association’s Level I Coaching qualification, the Development Coach Award (DCA).  He will be heavily involved in the upcoming courses and monthly sessions.