I’ve never been a fan of sports, in fact I can place myself categorically in the “anti-sport” camp – quite the opposite to Adam who is sports mad. I’ve woken up to this man watching bowls at 2am before because he couldn’t sleep and it was on sky sports. Guess who the kids have taken after? Well it’s not me!
In the last month we’ve been to a plethora of sporting events, from the FA cup final (which I did enjoy, though Watford fans crying around us caused for a swift exit) to the rather lovely Nottingham Tennis Open this weekend, sponsored by Del Monte, who invited the whole family along!
The Nottingham Tennis Open had a family fun event this weekend which is put on by LTA to try and encourage youngsters to get involved in tennis. If our kids are anything to go by it will have certainly done the job.
The event was small but great fun and despite our initial reservations we had a ball (pun fully intended). We arrived about 10.45 and the event was really quiet with only a few people milling around who were most probably relatives of those competing, so initially we weren’t sure how long we would be able to stay and keep the kids entertained but things quickly got busier as the weather brightened and we ended up staying for a lot longer than we expected.
Once we’d had our bags checked we were met by Del Monte servers who were handing out snacks for the kids to enjoy as they walked around, from Edith’s favourite Squeezies to Toby’s favourite, bags of apples and grapes. With something to munch we set about the stamp quest, which was completely free and encouraged the kids to have a go at all the activities on offer.
We started off in the main area where they had a bouncy castle, inflatable darts, inflatable baseball, basketball and a speed serve machine. The kids loved it! They collected the stamps as they went around, having a blast and very much getting involved. What I would say at this point is that I felt this was very much a localised event and I really hope that they put more of these on so that people won’t have to travel too far to them . I felt that the event was ideal for a local community, and should there be another event similar in York or the surrounding areas, I would totally go again.
Everything that was put on by Nottingham Tennis Open was fantastic! After we’d collected our stamps and tried out the inflatables, met the PJ Masks characters (something that Edith was extremely excited by), the children went on to their next activity, which was fantastic: wheelchair tennis.
I think it is incredibly important to teach children that not everyone is the same, and on top of that that a disability doesn’t mean you can’t do something you put your mind to – especially with competitive sports. The kids were all given the chance to practice their tennis skills in a wheelchair with team GB wheelchair competitors. They were given around 30 mins to learn how to move in the wheelchair, learn how to hit a ball from one and how to hold their racket better, from there they were given the chance to have a little match with the tennis champs, something the boys absolutely loved.
We had a really great time and I felt the event was incredibly inclusive, with really friendly and welcoming staff.
There was a lovely picnic area with a chance to grab freshly cooked pizza or a pulled pork sandwich – followed by more fresh fruit from Del Monte and the chance to meet the Del Monte mascots and have a photo with them which lots of kids were doing. Of course that meant more snacks for the journey home!
All in all a fantastic family afternoon for locals, with plenty of tennis opens taking place to head along to. If you would like more information about attending then you can find it here!
H 🙂
