The Nadal Foundation celebrates 10 years alongside people with disabilities

The project “More than Tennis”, from the Foundation Rafael Nadal in collaboration with Special Olympics Spain, turns 10 promoting the inclusion of young people with disabilities.

The Foundation of the world's number two tennis player and Special Olympics Spain allied with a common goal, according to a statement from the entity directed by María Francisca Perelló, Nadal's wife: promoting the social inclusion of young people with intellectual disabilities through tennis. “More than Tennis” has benefited more than 1,200 athletes from all over Spain. Nowadays The program is present in 20 sports schools throughout Spain and this course has had the participation of 220 young people, mostly with ages between 16 and 30 years.

Although due to the situation generated by the pandemic the activity of the centers had to be interrupted, in the last weeks this It has been resumed and today there are already 12 schools where the 'More than Tennis' project is active again. The results obtained “show that membership the program and the regular practice of this sport directly affect and in a very satisfactory way in the quality of life of the participants, all of them with some intellectual disability “, adds the note.

“With More than Tennis it has been shown how tennis is also an engine of change and well-being, and how it contributes to breaking down barriers and stigmas “, explains María Francisca Perelló. “More than Tennis provides an environment where athletes can make friends, have fun, learn by playing, share experiences, improve day by day and improve their self-esteem “, adds Enric Blesa director of Special Olympcis Spain. In addition to growing in number of schools and, consequently, in number of beneficiaries, from the beginning the project has made improvements and initiatives, such as the inclusion of the Unified Tennis modality, in which people with and without disabilities play together.