How much do you know about wheelchair tennis?
For many able-bodied individuals, like fourth-year psychology student Rafa Africa, the answer is almost nothing.
“I’ve seen clips online of people in wheelchairs playing tennis,” Africa said. That was the extent of his experience before attending UBC Rec’s Adaptive Sports Day.
Held annually, Adaptive Sports Day aims to promote inclusivity in athletics by offering opportunities for anyone to participate in parasports — sports for individuals with disabilities. Previous years have featured sports such as wheelchair floorball, sitting volleyball and goalball.
This year’s event, hosted in partnership with the BC Wheelchair Sports Association (BCWSA), centred around wheelchair tennis.
Taking place on January 23 at the UBC Tennis Centre, laughter was common throughout the event as BCWSA staff guided attendees through various drills. Provided with tennis rackets and sports wheelchairs — which are lighter than everyday wheelchairs and have angled wheels — participants enjoyed racing through cones or practicing ball control. Participants spent most of the two-hour event learning to use the equipment before graduating to rallies.
“Even an individual who's coming to us that uses a day [wheel]chair maybe hasn't been in a sport chair,” said Makenna Bailey, a wheelchair tennis program manager at BCWSA. “It's a bit of a new experience for a lot of people, whether they're an able-bodied individual or in a day chair.”
The players ranged from novices to tennis coaches, but the majority were able-bodied, according to Allie Strobel, a UBC intramural events director. This demographic outcome is an important dimension of Adaptive Sports Day, which allows the BCWSA to reach an audience that is largely uninformed on parasports.
“One nice thing in wheelchair tennis is that you can play … with a standing or able-bodied friend. Which is great, but that doesn't necessarily mean that programs or facilities are providing that option to people or advertising that, so some people might not even know they can do that,” said Bailey. “So having this program is really important for the visibility of the sport.”
Adaptive Sports Day goes beyond surface-level awareness, fostering deeper understanding by placing participants in the shoes — or chairs — of athletes with disabilities.
“Something with this event that’s really cool is it gives able-bodied folks an opportunity to experience what sport is like for people who might have a disability,” said Strobel.
After the event, many attendees had a newfound appreciation for the difficulty of wheelchair tennis.
“When we're playing able-bodied tennis, we talk a lot about footwork and movement and getting to the ball, and now it's not about me and my footwork, right? It's about getting the chair there … It’s way more work,” said Michelle Linhart, a tennis coach who experienced the sport for the first time.
“Huge respect to pros that play this,” Linhart added.
“I didn’t know how difficult the sport would be,” said Africa. “I like how it’s an entirely different sport in itself.”
For UBC Rec and BCWSA, this improved awareness is a sign of success, and an important step in creating an inclusive environment in sports.
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