Inclusion work with Will Bayley & Byng Hall
Inclusion work with Will Bayley & Byng Hall
As part of our LBA award, Inclusion have recently been lucky enough to work alongside local Paralympian Will Bayley & the table tennis club Byng Hall, where Will started his career, to help promote the importance of access & accessibility around Tunbridge Wells.
Here’s some information about Will taken from the Paralympics GB website:
“Will was born with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that affected all four of his limbs. Whilst also recovering from cancer aged seven, Will discovered he could play a good game of Table Tennis. Thanks to his Grandma Mary, who bought him his first table, Will continued to progress in the sport. At the age of 12 he joined Byng Hall Table Tennis Club in Tunbridge Wells, the only Advanced Level Premier Club in the county and a local resource that caters for all aspects of the game and a fabulous, fully accessible local resource for all ages and abilities, where he continued to improve before moving on to represent Kent men’s team of non-disabled players.
In October 2011 Will returned from the 2011 European Championships in Split, Croatia where he won a gold medal in the men’s Singles class 7 and a silver medal in the men’s Team event class 7, playing with Paul Karabardak. He finished 2011 by being voted the European Players’ Player of the Year and was subsequently announced as the world no. 1 in January 2012. He now spends most of his time training at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, where the team is based.
In addition to his sporting achievements, Will also went to The Brit School for Performing Arts to embark upon a Theatre Studies course.
At London 2012, Will made the men’s Singles class 7 final where he played German player Jochen Wollmert. He may have lost the match, but his achievement in winning silver marked GB’s first men’s Singles Table Tennis medal since Neil Robinson took the same colour in Atlanta 1996, and their first of any sort since 2004.
“I’m still young, I still want to improve and I still want to get a gold medal at the Paralympic Games – that’s my dream.”
Will Bayley
In the bronze medal match of the men’s class 6-8 Team event, Will was back in action alongside team-mates Ross Wilson and Aaron McKibbin. He avenged his loss against Wollmert with a decisive victory and the match concluded within 20 minutes, meaning Will finished the Games with a silver and bronze medal.”
In March 2013 Will won the Italian Open and has returned to the position of world No 1…..long may he remain there and everyone at Inclusion wish him every success with his preparations for Brazil in 2016 and beyond.
Keep up the brilliant work Will & Byng Hall – it’s inspirational & we really hope we can help again in the near future!