Over the weekend, Tennis Northland and Parafed Northland hosted New Zealand’s first Blind & Low Vision Tennis Tournament.

The tournament was driven by Northland Blind & Low Vision Tennis legend Lissie, who’s played in tournaments around the world and was keen to get something going back home in Aotearoa. She’s put in a huge amount of work to make it happen, and we couldn’t have done it without her. 

For those new to it, Blind & Low Vision Tennis (BLVT) is like traditional tennis but with a few key adaptations. The ball is slightly larger and contains a rattle so players can track it by sound. Court size and number of bounces vary depending on each player’s visual classification 

In the lead-up to the tournament, we ran two “Have a Go Day” sessions to give people a chance to try blind & low vision tennis. It was great to see two of those participants go on to compete in the tournament. 

Players joined us from across Aotearoa, as well as from Australia, Germany, and Japan. It was a real mix of experience, backgrounds, and enthusiasm, and was great to see on court. 

Thanks to Tennis Australia for providing us with blind tennis balls for the event, and for their guidance around running a BLVT tournament.  

We were also grateful to Shannon from BLB Coaching for donating the cash prizes. 

Big thanks to our volunteers and umpires - your support helped everything run smoothly, and it was great to have the wider community involved in the event.  

Tournament Results