First ever sound ball tennis workshop in Mumbai for people with visual impairments

What is sound ball tennis you may ask? Well, it is a sport for people with visual impairments. Similar to tennis and played with a modified ball.

Sound ball tennis is played indoors using rackets and sponge balls that make sound when in motion. The rattling sound made by the balls is followed by the players. The game takes some practice and technique is such that players need to stay agile and focused on the sound the ball makes while using hand moments to hit the ball.

Sound Ball Tennis is quite popular in other countries particularly the United States, parts of Europe and Mexico, but is still testing waters in India. The International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA) regulates sound ball tennis across 18 member countries and also organizes competitions at international levels.

The Indian Blind Sports Association (IBTA) is holding a three-day Sound Ball Tennis workshop in Mumbai this month. The aim of the workshop is to provide an opportunity to coaches and interested players to learn about the sport.

“Through this coaching workshop, we wish to enable visually impaired people learn and adopt a new sport. Visually impaired people can do well not only in education and employment sector, they can also show great potential in sports. We are out to change the notions of the society and break barriers through promotion of sports in the visually impaired community” , says Toni Kurian, co-organizer.

The workshop is free for the participants and will be taken by well-known coaches, Simon McFarland and Dr. Davinder Kapur from the Windsor Lawn Tennis Club Belfast, United Kingdom. The dates are 19 to 22 February and will be a great opportunity for sports lovers to become acquainted with the basics of sound ball tennis and also make new friends.

Ekinath Khedekar, who heads the finance division at the IBSA is happy with the interest shown so far.

This is the first time such a workshop is being held in western India and we hope to make more and more people aware about the Sound ball lawn tennis sports. It is important to stay physically active and learn new things to keep mentally active as well – Ekinath Khedekar, Indian Blind Sports Association

Khedekar hopes that the game will be taken up by the visually impaired people in India and the country may find some players who have the potential to play at the international level and represent India’s blind community.

To know more about the workshop Click Here