by Sam Bernstein
Happy end of summer everyone! My name is Sam Bernstein, and in April I started as the Program Manager for Adaptive Sports New England. Over the past four months, I’ve been to some truly amazing events, and there was one in particular that I’d like to highlight. Back at the end of June, I had one of the more humbling experiences of my life. I was never super invested in tennis, nor did I ever play competitively. I’ve played some casual tennis in my time, like gym classes, family trips, or just messing around with friends. None of my experiences compared to the first day I walked into the South Shore YMCA – Emilson in Hanover for the USTA’s Wheelchair Tennis Coach Workshop.
Upon arriving to the workshop, I was introduced to several fantastic individuals, the first being Mavi Sanchez-Skakle. Mavi is the Head of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the United States Tennis Association (USTA), who made me feel very welcomed. I also met Thomas Dodd, who is the President of the South Coast Wheelchair Tennis Foundation and a pretty good wheelchair tennis player himself. The biggest honor, however, was to meet Jason Harnett. Jason is the Director of Wheelchair Tennis for USTA, and also the head coach for the US Wheelchair Tennis Team. Jason has an uncanny ability to command a room, and instantly captured the attention of us wannabe-tennis players. He showed clips of unbelievable wheelchair tennis rallies, with athletes flying back and forth on the court. He went through the history of the sport and the pioneers who made it all possible. He also taught us all about how the sport is played and the techniques to it. Then, finally, we gave it a go ourselves.
While propelling your own able-body isn’t normally that difficult in a wheelchair, quickly stopping on a dime while having a racquet in your hand and trying to hit a ball is. I did have the arm strength to get myself over to the ball (sometimes) and got a good feel for the movement patterns. However, the reality of my abilities was discovered when I proceeded to lose my racquet on a turn and took a tennis ball to the face. I quickly developed a great deal of respect for these wheelchair tennis players, as Jason hopped in and out of his chair to introduce new skills, Thomas whizzed balls by me, and I had to roll over to the net to collect all the balls I hit short. By day two, I started getting a bit better, corrected my mistakes and got some rallies going. It was quite fun to get a casual game going, and by the end I was feeling comfortable in my chair.
I learned so much in just a couple days, and Jason concluded the workshop with providing some additional materials for coaching in the future. The other participants and I connected online for future programs, and I have begun my own relationship with both USTA and South Coast Wheelchair Tennis. With the US Open qualifying matches underway, and the Open beginning on the 29th, there is a lot of excitement regarding the state of wheelchair tennis. The field has doubled in size from last year, and they will also feature the first-ever junior wheelchair competition, which will hopefully draw in a lot more attention (more information can be found here). I really hope it does, as these athletes are far more impressive than you could even imagine. I am very grateful for USTA and the sport of wheelchair tennis, thanks for humbling me and making me appreciate the sport of wheelchair tennis.
The South Coast Wheelchair Tennis Foundation will be hosting a tournament at the South Shore YMCA – Emilson on September 18. More information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/SouthCoastWheelchairTennisFoundation/photos/a.1353415484754723/5313439315418967
