Four champions: Disability Tennis & Me

During the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we will be highlighting tennis for the disabled, and in particular the four winners from the recent series of national championships in tennis for the deaf, wheelchair, learning disabled and visually impaired – Esah, Martha, Oliver and Tracy.

Over the past two years, the pandemic has disproportionately affected many people with disabilities, with reduced activity levels and mobility opportunities, so last month’s LTA National Championships was a celebration of disabled tennis and offered players a chance to return. be active and competitive.

Here, we discuss with the Champions Quartet the views on how they got involved in tennis for the disabled and what the sport has done for them. While not everyone can win national championships, anyone can get on the field and have fun regardless of their abilities or disability – we hope the trips and experiences described below can help inspire and encourage more people with disabilities to return to the field and new players to try tennis.

Esah Hayat (Middelsex) – National Champion of the Deaf

In early November, Esah Hayat won four LTA National Deaf Tennis Championships doubles in six years, winning the National Tennis Center.

A 19-year-old Cambridge University student from East Finchley who is an established part of the LTA GB National Deaf Tennis Team and the previous Junior World Champion for the Deaf Tennis did not like the sport immediately.

– I was first introduced to the game at the age of about six, when my father and brother both played. However, I didn’t like it and just wanted to play football. I remember telling my dad after the first session, “This is a silly game! All you have to do is run after the ball and hit it!” I didn’t play tennis for a while, but I watched my brother Yousuf play and help collect the balls and hit them against the wall.When I was about nine and a half years old, I realized I couldn’t play football as well as I wanted with my hearing aid and cochlear implant, so I tried tennis again.

After making progress and playing regularly at the Westway Sport Center as part of their mainstream, his father received an email from the North London Deaf Children’s Association advertising the National Deaf Tennis Championships and suggesting he take part.

– Deaf tennis has allowed me to be part of a global community of tennis players who are all in the same boat. It can be very easy to get used to being the only deaf person in a room in everyday life, so playing deaf tennis tournaments has been a great way for me to be part of the deaf community again when we play a sport we all like.

“I have made many friends around the world from tennis both in tournaments and in my tennis clubs. Playing on the tennis team has provided a whole new branch of my life in college as well and overall has given me a wide range of experiences that I would never have had otherwise.

Martha Harris (Nottinghamshire) – National Champion of Wheelchair Tennis

Martha Harris, along with Andrew Penney, became the first teen couple to win both the men’s and women’s singles championships at the year-end LTA Wheelchair Tennis National finals at Shrewsbury Club last week.

Seventeen-year-old Harris, who left Shrewsbury with four trophies, went to see the professional players compete at the annual British Open in Nottingham when he was younger. During the British Open in 2015, he became acquainted with playing in a come and try session – He is now supported by LTA’s National Wheelchair Tennis Age Group, which is designed to help potential wheelchair players move forward toward future international success.

“I started the‘ come and try ’session in Nottingham, I really liked it and decided to continue.

“I’ve never played a lot of sports before tennis, I’ve never really been involved, but when I found the sport, I was much more active, playing a lot more and meeting so many great people and making so many great friends. The opportunity to go to all these competitions and even the opportunity to go abroad to play is really exciting for me.

“I really love the challenge of tennis, and the fact that I can keep practicing and working hard and the goal I work towards keeps me motivated.”

Oliver Beadle (Essex) – National Champion of Tennis for the Disabled

Oliver Beadle won the Yellow Ball Division 1 singles and doubles championship at the LTA Learning Disability National Championships in Sunderland last month.

Beadle, who debuted at Virtus Global Games as part of the GB team in 2019, was one of 53 players to participate in the Northeast. He first started playing tennis with his brothers before attending tennis sessions for people with learning disabilities, and he characterizes the sport he started 10 years ago to change his life.

“Thanks to tennis, I have met a large number of tennis players, friends and disabled coaches and have been able to compete in the UK. I take part in intensive training weekends through LTA and compete around the UK and the world.

“I’ve competed in Los Angeles and Brisbane so far, and those experiences and being part of a British team have helped me a lot both on and off the field.

“I enjoy playing and trying to win! I really enjoy training weekends and competitions as well as meeting with friends I get through LD tennis. I’m so proud to play in the UK, it’s awesome to wear a GB shirt and travel out and be part of a team.

Tracy Compton (Surrey) – National Champion in Visually Impaired Tennis

Tracy Compton competed in the LTA Visially Impaired Nationals in Wrexham and was one of 40 players from across the country to compete in North Wales. Compton and his duel partner Roy Turnham were crowned champions of the B1 quadruple, which he describes as “the fulfillment of dreams.”

Tracy talks about how VI tennis has made it impossible for the eye and the blind to get involved in tennis and make it inclusive.

“VI tennis has increased my self-confidence on and off the field. Encouraging participation in regional and national tournaments across the country has increased my courage and self-confidence to start traveling again by public transport after the isolation of the pandemic.”

Tracey was initially an unwilling participant in the sport, as she mentions. “The bad experience in high school made me feel inadequate and isolated to play tennis with my friends because of my visual impairment. At first, I was reluctant to attend tasting sessions held at my local tennis venue, the Tennis Academy at Sutton Sports Center.

– However, due to the proximity of the venue and the well-organized session of VI-tennis, I started to enjoy tennis again and it quickly became an addictive sport for me, and now I love VI-tennis and it encourages me to want to do better.

“Meeting and making new friends off the tennis court has been a social endeavor, and it gives me the opportunity to encourage other VIs to participate in new tastings across the country.”