Monika Johnson
Years ago, one night a week, wheelchair users would invade the tennis courts for an evening with the MSU tennis team, said Coach Gene Orlando. This fall, the team with resume the tradition every Monday night from 6:30-8:00 at the Indoor Tennis Facility, with hopes of forming a club team in the near future.
"We wanted to find a way to give back in our sport," said Orlando, describing the Men's Tennis Teams' motivation for bringing wheelchair tennis back to MSU. Now in his 19th season coaching, Orlando has dedicated this semester to developing the program. He and the players want to "introduce the game of tennis to people who otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity. Our Spartan Tennis program decided at the end of last year that we wanted to pick a special project that we all could participate in that could make a difference in our community and hopefully reach outside of our community this 2009-2010 season," he said.
Free of cost, Monday night wheelchair tennis is open to both MSU students and community members. While the event is currently attended by only a few athletes, they hope to gain visibility and greater participation. Every week, a different Spartan tennis player will join the group; Orlando will be present at each session. "The more the merrier," he said.
Wheelchair tennis programs are becoming increasingly popular throughout the United States. Mark Bullock, the Wheelchair Tennis Manager for the International Tennis Federation, stated on www.itftennis.com, that these programs are important to support because they are mutually beneficial to the coach and player, in addition to providing sports opportunities to mobility disabled young people. He said, "As a coach, we are like the steering wheel for the player, or maybe the co-pilot cheering our player on, adding motivation and excitement to sessions, but much of the learning process happens without us!"
The RCPD is supportive of the program, and encourages students to participate. Virginia Martz, Mobility Disabilities Specialist, said she is excited about the program because it expands the amount of sports disabled athletes are able to participate in. "Students have been involved in the Adaptive Sports Club, playing goal-ball, wheelchair basketball, and floor hockey, but this is a great opportunity for students to try something different," she said.
Moreover, RCPD Director Michael Hudson is enthusiastic about the program and hopes students take advantage of the opportunity. "This is an excellent contribution to various efforts in adaptive sports, and builds nicely upon the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame scholarship, presented to five MSU students this fall," he stated.
The MSU Indoor Tennis facility is located at 3571 E Mount Hope Ave. For more information, contact Coach Gene Orlando.