Students from the South Bunbury Education Support Centre (ESC) and South Bunbury Primary School hit the courts last Friday for the inaugural South Bunbury Tennis Inclusion Day.
Aiming to increase both participation and inclusion, the day saw more than 60 upper primary school students from across the two schools come together to compete in the round robin doubles competition.
South Bunbury ESC caters to students with a diagnoses of high needs Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disabilities.
The 16 teams were made up of students from both schools, where each team was led proudly by a nominated team captain from the South Bunbury ESC. Kicking of the day, team captains presented each team mate with a brand new ANZ Tennis Hot Shots tennis racquet and then awarded them with an ANZ Tennis Hot Shots t-shirt and certificate of participation during the final presentation. Throughout the tournament the Team Captain was also responsible for handing in scorecards at the end of each round.
To promote inclusion further, each team was also named after their respective Captain. Team names included Sekira’s Slammers, Chantel’s Shakers, Bella’s Bouncers, Montana’s Mates, Amber’s Aces, Bella’s Backhanders, Riley’s Racquets, Brooke’s Big Hitters, Caleb’s Crushers, Indi’s Hot Shot’s, Deegan’s Dynamites, Rosie’s Rippers, AJ’s Animals, Robie’s Wranglers, Rowan’s Roars and Tyrell’s Tigers.
South Bunbury Primary School PE teacher Mrs Linda Hutton says she is always looking for new ways to bring the two schools together and that the Tennis Inclusion Day was a great opportunity to do so.
“Our Tennis Inclusion Day was the culmination of combined tennis lessons which took place in term one,”
“The students did so well, but I knew that they would, they are truly amazing,”
“There are so many benefits in bringing the students together using sport as the medium,”
“It breaks down barriers and builds a common ground for the students to connect on,”
“Bringing the students together fosters empathy and emotional intelligence amongst our South Bunbury Primary School students whilst building confidence in the social and physical skills of our ESC students,”
“As a result of the combined lessons, the students now play tennis together at recess and lunchtime. The sense of mutual respect and value that this affords to all students is simply immeasurable,” said Mrs Hutton.
The South Bunbury Tennis Inclusion Day, which was made possible through the national Movement Disorder Foundation (MDF) funding for Tennis, was supported by the Tennis West Participation Team who worked closely with Mrs Hutton to facilitate the day’s success.
Schools Coordinator Mr Jason Marrable says Mrs Hutton has been instrumental in bringing tennis to the students of both schools.
“Linda has been the driving force for delivering tennis to the students of both schools and in making inclusion a priority,”
“Since signing on as a partner school in 2016, the inclusive delivery of tennis for all students has gone from strength to strength,”
“A number of the captains shared with us their excitement of being nominated, telling us that they’d never been a sport captain before,”
“The intangible result and profound sentiment created is difficult to quantify and one that Linda can be very proud of,”
“Furthermore it lies at the very core of inclusion and supports Tennis Australia’s vision of creating inclusive pathways for ongoing participation,” said Mr Marrable.
Tennis West CEO Mr Michael Roberts says that the priority of tennis is to grow through inclusion by ensuring all events, competitions, tournaments, clubs, coaches and partner schools are welcoming, safe and inclusive of everyone.
“Creating opportunities for inclusive participation at the grassroots level is essential for growing an accepting and welcoming culture across all levels of tennis,”
“Growing this culture from the ground up, whilst leading by example from the top down, is imperative to delivering on the sports objective to grow through inclusion,”
“The outcome of doing so is better for our sport, is better our clubs and most importantly, is better for our society,” said Mr Roberts.
Schools Partnership program:
The Partnership program assists schools to deliver tennis within their Health and Physical Education Curriculum. This Australian Curriculum-aligned program adopts a Game Sense Approach (GSA) and helps develop skills of students in a meaningful way.
Schools who commit to the sport through placing tennis in their Health and Physical Education Curriculum will be treated as an official partner schools of Tennis and in turn will receive benefits and support for their commitment.
To find out more visit: https://www.tennis.com.au/schools/partner-program
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