We were invited to work with Special Olympics City of York (SOCOY) in April of 2014. Special Olympics Great Britain was established in 1978 and is a registered charity. They provide training and competition in 26 sports.
We started tennis sessions in Rowntree Park for people with Learning Disabilities later that month. We are open to all who qualify as having a Learning Disability.
Whilst we have very competitive players the emphasis is still on having fun in the sessions as well as reaching the players full tennis potential.
On 25th and 26th September Laura Campbell and Matthew Brough took part in the Grantham Regional Series Learning Disability Tournament both winning a Gold medal in their Singles divisions. Matthew also won Bronze and Laura 4th in the Division 1 Doubles Tournament. Well done to you both.On the weekend of 31st July and 1st August 2021, three of our players took part in the Chesterfield Regional Series Learning Disability Tournament. Congratulations go to Keigan on winning Gold in the Singles and Gold in the Doubles with Laura who also won Bronze in the Singles, and to Matthew who won Gold in the Singles and Silver in the Doubles with Jack from Scotland. A great result for Yorkshire Day!! Well done to you all.On 22nd & 23rd February 2020 nine of our York Disability Tennis Network players took part in the first Regional Series Learning Disability Tournament of 2020 held at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds. They brought home a total of 6 gold, 4 Silver, 5 bronze and a 4th place between them. Well done Matthew, Keigan, Naomi, Sam, Maria, William, Emily, Cameron and Samuel.On 15th-17th November 2019 8 of our players took part in the Learning Disability National Championships at Silkworth Tennis Centre in Sunderland. Well done to our Gold medallists and new National Champions Matthew Brough and William Farrow in the Singles and Matthew, Emily Clarke and Sam Dale in the Doubles with their respective partners from other clubs. Full results are as follows:- Laura Campbell: Singles Bronze, Doubles 4th, Matthew Brough: Singles Gold, Doubles Gold, Keigan: Singles Bronze, Doubles Silver (with Naomi), Sam Dale: Singles Bronze, Doubles Gold, Naomi Foster: Singles 4th, Doubles Silver (with Keigan), Emily Clarke: Singles 5th, Doubles Gold, Cameron Long: Singles Bronze, Doubles 5th, William Farrow: Singles Gold, Doubles Silver Well played everyone. What a great achievement from you all. Congratulations also to Naomi Foster (pictured centre) who received two special awards at the Learning Disability National Championships Dinner. Naomi took away the trophies for the most points in the Ladies Singles and Ladies Doubles in 2019. Well done Naomi.On 26th and 27th October 2019 11 York Disability Tennis Network Players competed in the Leeds Regional Series Learning Disability Tournament at the John Charles Centre for Sport. Pictured are (back row) Matthew Brough, Cameron Long, Laura Campbell, Maria Bruce, Emily Clarke, Keigan, Sam Dale and Samuel Nicholson. (front row) Lewis Brown and William Farrow. Not pictured is Jack Ratcliffe who was playing in his first Regional Tournament, The results were as follow:- In the Singles events it was GOLD for Laura, Matthew, Maria, Emily, Jack and Cameron. SILVER for Sam and Samuel and BRONZE for Keigan, William and Lewis. In the Doubles events it was GOLD for William/Lewis, SILVER for Laura/Keigan and Emily/Maria, BRONZE for Matthew/Sam and Jack with a player from another club and 4TH PLACE for Cameron/Samuel. Well done to you all!On 7th and 8th September 2019 Matthew Brough, Sam Dale, Keigan, Naomi Foster and William Farrow competed in the Glasgow Learning Disability Regional Tennis Tournament at Scotstoun, Glasgow. The medals were as follows: Matthew: gold singles, bronze doubles, Sam: silver singles, bronze doubles, Keigan: bronze singles, gold doubles, Naomi: silver singles, gold doubles and William: bronze singles, gold doubles. Well done to you all.On 17th and 18th August 2019 Keigan, Lewis, Emily and Naomi enjoyed volunteering at the York Regional Visually Impaired Tennis Tournament at David Lloyd, YorkOn 27th and 28th July 2019 William Farrow and Maria Bruce competed in the Chesterfield Learning Disability Regional Tournament. Maria took Silver in the Singles and William fourth and together they won Gold in the Doubles! Congratulations to you both.Congratulations to Matthew Brough on being awarded ‘Young Disabled Sportsperson of the Year’ at the Active York Sports Awards in June 2019On 15th June 2019 we held our first Annual Charity Learning Disability Tournament in aid of the Mbedza Projects Support. All the competitiors played extremely well especially as they had to cope with the pouring rain! £104 pounds was raised for the project which is fantastic. Well done to Samuel Nicholson and Jack Ratcliffe who were joint winners overall with 57 points each and got to share the trophy for the year.On 15th June 2019 Laura Campbell, Lewis Brown and William Farrow took part in the Wigginton Tennis Club Open Weekend helping Robyn Moore with her Breakpoint 2019 challenge to hit 200,000 shots within the month of June. They enjoyed a game of doubles with Robyn before taking up the serving challenge to help raise funds for the club.On 1st and 2nd June 2019 Keigan, Matthew Brough, William Farrow, Naomi Foster, Sam Dale and Laura Campbell took part in the Grantham Learning Disability Regional Series tennis tournament. A very successful event it was for all especially as some were playing in higher divisions this time. Results were as follows:- In the singles events Keigan (Bronze), Matthew (Gold), William (Bronze), Naomi (Silver), Sam (Bronze), Laura (Bronze). In the doubles events Keigan and Naomi (Gold), Matthew (Silver), William (Silver), Laura ( Silver) and Sam ( Bronze) Well done to you all.On 27th and 28th April 2019 Matthew Brough, Naomi Foster and Keigan took part in the Wrexham Learning Disability Regional Tournament. It was double gold for Matthew in the Singles and Doubles events. Gold for Keigan in the Doubles playing with Matthew and Silver in the Singles and Two Silver medals for Naomi in the Singles and Doubles events. Congratulations to all three of them!Congratulations to Naomi Foster and Sam Dale who took part in the Bromley Regional Learning Disability Tournament on 16th and 17th March 2019. Naomi won SIlver in the Singles and Sam was 4th and together they won Silver in the Doubles. Well done to you both!On 16th and 17th February 2019 York hosted it’s first Regional Learning Disability Tennis Tournament at David Lloyd, York. 13 of our York Disability Tennis Network players took part, our biggest ever entry. Between them they achieved 6 Golds, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze medals. Pictured from left to right (back row) Cameron Long, William Farrow, Teresa Burfield, Naomi Foster, Lewis Brown, Laura Campbell and Keigan. (front row) Emily Clarke, Matthew Brough and Sam Dale. Not pictured are Maria Bruce, Samuel Nicholson and Daniel Fillingham. Congratulations to them all. Special mention must go the Samuel and Daniel who were both playing in their first ever tennis tournament. Well done boys on a great performance.On 26th-28th October 2018 9 of our players took part in the Learning Disability National Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre. They brought home 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze medals and 6 4th places between them. Special mention to our new National Champions Keigan, Matthew Brough and Naomi Foster in their respective divisions of the Singles competition and in the Doubles Keigan and Sam Dale and Teresa Burfield and her partner Frances Smiley from Scotland. Well done to you all. Pictured from left to right, Keigan, Sam Dale, Emily Clarke, William Farrow, Teresa Burfield, Matthew Brough, Naomi Foster, Cameron Long and Laura Campbell.On September 8th and 9th 2018 Naomi Foster, Keigan, Matthew Brough and Laura Campbell competed in the Glasgow Learning Disability Regional Tennis Tournament. In the Singles events it was Gold for Matthew and Keigan, Silver for Naomi and Bronze for Laura. In the doubles Naomi and Keigan partnered each other to win Gold. Matthew partnered Jack Dickson from Scotland to also win Gold in their division and Laura partnered Alistair Ramsey to gain fourth place in a very tough division. Well played all of you.On July 28th and 29th 2018 Matthew, Sam, William, Naomi and Teresa competed in the Chesterfield Learning Disability Regional Series Tennis Tournament. Two Gold medals for Matthew Brough in both SIngles and Doubles (with good friend Jack Dickson from Scotland). Sam Dale won Singles Bronze and Doubles Silver with William Farrow who also won Silver in the Singles. Naomi Foster won Gold in the Singles and Bronze in the Doubles with Teresa who also won Silver in the Singles. Congratulations to you all.On 26th and 27th May 2018 seven of our York Disability Tennis Network players took part in the Learning Disability Regional Tennis Tournament held in Grantham. Pictured from left to right are Cameron Long (Bronze in the Singles and Gold in the Doubles with John from another region), Laura Campbell (Singles Silver and Doubles Silver with Haydn from another region), Naomi Foster (Singles Silver and Doubles Silver with Tom Sewell), Sam Dale (Singles Silver and Doubles Bronze with William), William Farrow (Singles Gold and Doubles Bronze with Sam) and Keigan playing in his very first tournament (Singles Bronze and Doubles Bronze with Maria). Not pictured is Maria Bruce (Singles fourth and Doubles Bronze with Keigan). Well done to you all.On 28th and 29th April 2018 Maria Bruce, Matthew Brough, Naomi Foster and Sam Dale competed in the Wrexham Learning Disability Regional Tournament. They all were amazing and played some fantastic tennis. Matthew Brough won Singles Silver and Doubles Gold, Maria Bruce won Singles Gold and Doubles Bronze, Sam Dale Singles Bronze and Doubles Silver and Naomi Foster Singles Bronze and 4th in the Doubles. Well done to you all.Well done to Jessica Pay, Emily Clarke, Daniel Fillingham and James Clayton for competing in the Yorkshire Learning Disability Tennis League on Sunday 22nd April 2018 at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds. They all had so much fun and each came away with a certificate for taking part. Well done to you all!On March 10th and 11th 2018 Sam Dale competed in the Learning Disability Regional Series Tournament in Welwyn Garden City. Congratulations to Sam on getting a Bronze medal in the Mens Singles and a Gold medal in the Mens Doubles and all at the age of 10! Well done Sam!On 17th and 18th February 2018 nine of our players attended the Learning Disability Regional Tennis Series tournament held at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds. Pictured from left to right are Cameron Long (Singles Silver and Doubles Gold with Emily), Matthew Brough (Singles Gold and Doubles Bronze with Teresa), William Farrow (Singles Bronze and Doubles Fourth with Naomi), Naomi Foster (Singles Gold and Doubles Fourth with William), Sam Dale (Singles Silver and Doubles Silver with Dominic Hubner), Teresa Burfield (Singles Silver and Doubles Bronze with Matthew), Laura Campbell (Singles Silver and Doubles Silver with Haydn Furneaux) and Emily Clarke (Singles Fifth and Doubles Gold with Cameron). Lewis Brown (not pictured) came fourth in the Singles. Special mention must go to Emily, Naomi and Teresa who were playing in their very first tournament. Well done to you all!On the weekend of 27th-29th October 2017 four of our players competed in the Learning Disability National Championships in Nottingham. William Farrow won Gold in the Singles, Cameron Long and Matthew Brough Bronze and Laura Campbell Silver. In the Mens Doubles William and Cameron partnered each other to win Silver, Matthew Brough came fourth with his partner from another region and Laura Campbell won a Silver medal in the Mixed Doubles again with a partner from another region. Congratulations to you all.In August 2017 our athletes who attended the Special Olympics National Games challenged Kay Crewdson and a team from Radio York to a challenge tennis match. Great fun was had by all! Pictured after the match are YDTN players Lewis Brown and William Farrow, Sarah, Kay, Adam and Adam from Radio York and YDTN players Laura Campbell, Matthew Brough and Christopher Cook.From 7th-11th August 2017 four of our players participated in the Special Olympics National Games in Sheffield. The Opening Ceremony took place at Sheffield United’s football ground and was a great occasion despite the rain! The tennis competition took place over four days and our players Cameron Long, William Farrow, Laura Campbell and Matthew Brough were representing the Yorkshire and Humberside region and came away with an impressive medal haul. Laura and William both achieved Gold in the Singles, Cameron Silver and Matthew Bronze. Laura and Matthew won Gold in the Mixed Doubles and Cameron and William also won Gold in the Mens Doubles. A big congratulations to them all on such a fantastic achievement.On the weekend of 27th/28th May 2017 six players competed in the Learning Disability Regional Tennis Series Tournament held in Nottingham. They brought home 3 Gold Medals and 9 Silver medals between them. Congratulations to (pictured from left to right) William Farrow – Singles Silver, Doubles Gold (with Cameron), Sam Dale – Singles Silver, Doubles Silver (with Christopher), Laura Campbell – Singles Silver, Doubles Silver, Cameron Long – Singles Silver, Doubles Gold (with William), Christopher Cook – Singles Gold, Doubles Silver (with Sam) and Matthew Brough (not pictured) – Singles Silver, Doubles Silver. Well done to you all!
