Tom has been named the winner of the Avon Tennis Disability Coaching Award of the Year for 2022.
This week Avon Tennis and the Lawn Tennis Association were delighted to advise Tom of his brilliant achievement. The County judging team picked Tom from a strong field of nominees and were extremely impressed by his great commitment and passion to the coaching that he undertakes, and they believe he rightly deserves the recognition.
Tom tells us how he feels:
“WOW, this was a big surprise!! A big thanks to whoever nominated me. I know there are some amazing coaches out there who also deserve the award so this does feel very special.
“The sessions we run on Saturdays for SEND are so much fun. It’s a great chance to be your most positive self on court which radiates with the children and makes it an amazing experience for everyone!
“A big thank you needs to go out to my regular helpers Oscar, Romily and Zahra who are amazing with the kids and make my job really enjoyable and a big thank you to Elly for giving me the opportunity to work with these wonderful kids!!! Over the moon!!!!”
Elly talks about Tom’s achievement:
“He is a worthy winner, we are so incredibly proud of him. Tom has coached our accessible SEND sessions for over 5 years, they started as Tuesday sessions in the holidays and he has created such a welcoming, comfortable environment that parents asked for a more regular group. We now run six week blocks on Saturdays 10.15 – 11AM.
“Tom has developed the sessions over the years and is successfully making tennis fun for these children with tennis becoming one of their regular activities where they also develop their skills….just as everyone else does. Tom is a huge promoter of tennis for all, and an asset to our coaching team.”
Tom is an integral part of Accessible Tennis offering at Elly Shearman Tennis Coaching. We are so proud to be able to provide tennis for everyone and we welcome and encourage anyone who is interested in the sport to play, regardless of their age or ability.
Tom runs all our Accessible Tennis for Kids groups. We run six week blocks and sessions during school holidays.
These groups are aimed at any child between 6 and 10 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are great fun sessions run by our brilliant coaches and the children really enjoy spending time playing tennis outside in the fresh air.
