On 26 November 2025, we hosted our first ever Visually Impaired Tennis session at Kent. It was a great step in making sports and activities more accessible and enjoyable to a wider range of students and staff at Kent.
This joint initiative between Fran Crump from Student Support and Wellbeing and Nick Skelton at Kent Sport, aims to offer a fun sporting activity and deliver an accessible session to students and staff with visual impairments to support their health and wellbeing.
The session, led by Nick, the University’s Tennis Development Lead, uses adapted sound balls, raised markers that players can feel, as well as smaller courts and nets. Sessions are adapted for the individuals attending so that activities are achievable and offer the right level of challenge. As well as offering physical activity, players were taught to develop their skills such as recognising and reacting to the sound and speed of the ball.
The session offered lots of enjoyment and there are plans to publicise this to more students and staff going forwards with opportunities for sighted players to join in the fun using blindfolds.
If you are interested in more details or giving a session a try, please contact Fran Crump F.Crump@Kent.ac.uk or Nick Skelton N.Skelton@Kent.ac.uk for future events.
Please visit our Tennis For All webpage for more information about all tennis opportunities on campus.