A wheelchair tennis player breaks the glass ceiling

Lucy Shirimas’ mother died a year after Lucy’s birth in 1999. She was taken care of by her aunt Marygoreth Mrosso. His aunt enrolled him in Jeshi la Wokovu Primary School when he turned seven. This is a special school for disabled children located in Temeke, Dar es Salaam. It was at this school that Lucy discovered her passion for tennis.

The principal of the school, Charles Hussein, wanted to create an exercise environment for the school’s students. Tennis was one of the sports he promoted and Lucy hoped to become one of the players.

His dreams were dashed after the principal was promoted to work for the Tanzanian Paralympic Committee and no other teacher continued to work with the former principal. Lucy was in fourth grade at the time.

As fate would have it, three years later two coaches visited the school looking for wheelchair tennis players.

They were going from class to class, and when they came to my class, they said they were looking for boys who were interested in joining the tennis team. I put my hand up but they didn’t pick me.

As they continued to the next class, Lucy hurried to convince the teacher who was transporting the coaches from class to class to talk to them about her interest. Both coaches agreed on the condition that Lucy had to play a trial period before further arrangements were made. They were impressed by his efforts and initiative.

To be honest, it was my first time in the field, but it still felt like home to me. This is because I had a passion for sports even before I started playing, he adds.

Even though he was used to using a wheelchair, it was difficult to get him to run faster while holding the tennis racket consistently. When I played for the first time on the field, two coaches and a teacher watched me closely. This caused me weeks of pain in my shoulders and rashes on my right hand, says Lucy.

It took Lucy six months to master the rules and the game itself. Since then, he has kept up the momentum. His dedication to tennis has made him rise in the ranks to second place in the national tennis team.

A year after Lucy joined the national wheelchair team, she began competing in and from Tanzania. He traveled to various parts of the world such as Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya and Nigeria. This not only encouraged him but also boosted his confidence to play with international players.

The last global competition that Lucy participated in was the BNP Paribas World Team Cup, held in Turkey from 17-22. March this year.

When I started my journey in tennis, I watched the South African player Mariska Venter and watched several moves from her through her videos. When I met her and played against her in 2016, even though Mariska won, it was magical. I felt like a proud student who had followed the quiet guidance of her teachers and managed to get to where the teacher is, Lucy explains.

When the two met, they briefly discussed their travels, with Mariska stressing that Lucy should be patient on her tennis journey due to the different tennis environments in their countries (South Africa and Tanzania).

Mariska emphasized practicing patience after hearing about Lucy’s struggles. He told Lucy that he had met many other wheelchair tennis players who had overcome obstacles.

This conversation also helped me pull up my socks and understand the game of tennis in South Africa.

I also learned later that they were ahead of us in terms of support and infrastructure.

He mentions that the international competitions in which the national team has played are financed by non-governmental organizations.

Sports is one of the areas of employment for the disabled, which helps to close the unemployment gap for the disabled, he says.

Lucy for more information; unlike our country, wheelchair tennis teams in other countries are supported in terms of sports environment, local and global competitions, facilities and practices. Tanzania doesn’t even have an official field for disabled players. For years, we have depended on the gymkhana court, which is also used by other tennis teams.

Lucy remembers two occasions when she had to postpone participation in international competitions due to a lack of funding for the national team.

I played in Johannesburg in the ACSA Bloem Open in December 2015 and won second place. I then had to travel to France for the world competition, but I didn’t have the financial support to do so. The same thing happened in 2016 when I played in the same competition in South Africa; I won the same place and I had to continue to Japan, but I had no support, says Lucy.

He currently works as a mobile transaction agent to earn a living.

At first I was sure that being a national team player would reveal my talent on the tennis court and give me a chance to be financially stable, but the situation was different. I had to look for a part-time job to get some income.

Chairman of Tanzania Wheelchair Tennis, John Bura, explains that in addition to the team that has been successful for a long time, it is time for the government to step in and offer their support.

The national wheelchair team is currently struggling to finance tools and participation in international competitions, as we depended on the support of private companies, institutions, NGOs, embassies and individuals, but due to the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine and Russia, these organizations cannot provide support. the same support anymore, he elaborates.

Bura appeals to the government to allocate funds for the development of wheelchair tennis.

This should not be left to NGOs, but the team represents the country in international competitions. This hurts the players because they see this as their job, he says.

According to the general secretary of the Sports Council, Neema Msitha, the council is limited to supporting the national teams depending on which games they participate in.

Our fund is small, which forces us to host only well-known games such as the Olympics. We are currently focusing on the primary games and programs. We cannot buy equipment for all teams around the country. We usually extend the support according to the type of programs the respective teams participate in, he emphasizes.