Tennis Australia increases support for Wheelchair Tennis

Tennis Australia has increased support for Wheelchair Tennis through the new Wheelchair Development Coach Program.

13 July 2017 | Tennis Australia

Tennis Australia is expanding its wheelchair tennis development program to keep up with soaring participation numbers following the success of athletes like Dylan Alcott OAM last year.

The new measures have been developed to not just increase participation but to also ensure players are appropriately guided from a junior to elite level.

A major component of the Tennis Australia initiative is the Wheelchair Development Coach Program which is set to improve access to a network of passionate and specialised coaches who can deliver quality experiences for participants of all ages and abilities.

Three-time Paralympic champion and 2016 Paralympian of the Year Dylan Alcott believes the program will help boost numbers for the sport.

“Coaches play a critical role in promoting wheelchair tennis in their local communities,” Alcott said.

“Tennis Australia is equipping coaches to create engaging and dynamic environments for wheelchair tennis players.”

Fast facts: Wheelchair tennis in the past 12 months

An increase of three to 33 weekly junior wheelchair tennis players since 2015/16 Thirty-seven new wheelchair development coaches Two new state Wheelchair Development Hubs developed for wheelchair tennis players and their families to connect, socialise and play (one in Victoria and one in NSW) Eight new state based development camps focused on coach development, player development and parent information Twenty new sport wheelchairs have been purchased to be a part of the National Wheelchair Loan Program Through tournament and player development, Australia has risen from one to six junior players in the ITF Junior Wheelchair Tennis rankings Two Paralympic gold medals at the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, Australia’s first Paralympic Gold medals in tennis since David Hall at Sydney 2000 Australia has two World Team Cup 2016 gold medallists in Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson Australian National Wheelchair Tennis Championships fielded players in all four divisions including Men’s, Women’s, Quads and Juniors for the first time in 2016 Six new wheelchair tennis tournaments and competitions have been developed for the 2016/2017 year.

Tennis Australia’s National Wheelchair Tennis Pathway Manager Alex Jago believes a focus on coach delivery is pivotal to increasing opportunities for the sport.

“Identifying and supporting wheelchair tennis coaches is critical to providing engaging environments and positive experiences for participants of all abilities,” Jago said.

“Coaches are integral to ensuring the sport is being delivered successfully and efficiently.

“We believe introducing this new coach network will ensure players from all areas will have access to a qualified wheelchair tennis coach.

“In the past, players have found it can be challenging to find a tennis club or coach that provides an engaging and fun learning environment, one of our key priorities is to change this view and provide all eligible players with access to a Wheelchair Development Coach within 30 minutes of their home,” Jago added.

To coincide with the Wheelchair Development Coach launch, Tennis Australia has announced a National Wheelchair Loan Program to increase accessibility for players. Eligible players, coaches and clubs can now apply for the opportunity to access one of 20 sports wheelchairs for participants.

Full list of coaches involved in the Wheelchair Development Coach Program

Coach		Tennis Clubs	Suburb	State
Brett	Lennard	North Woden Tennis Club	Hughes	ACT
Philip	Beckman	Grafton City Tennis Club	Grafton	NSW
Fiona	Roseby	Pitt Town Tennis Centre	Pitt Town	NSW
Melissa	Dolahenty	Dural Tennis Centre	Dural Park	NSW
Bernadette	Cahill	Adelong Tennis Club	Adelong	NSW
		Batlow Tennis Club	Batlow
Riato	Hino	City Community Tennis	Surry Hills	NSW
Allan	Pade	Nana Glen Tennis Club	Nana Glen	NSW
		Orara Valley Tennis Centre	Karangi
		Urunga Tennis Club	Urunga
		Westside Tennis Club	Coffs Harbour
Natasha	Kersten	Tweed Heads Tennis Club Inc	Tweed Heads South	NSW
		Pro One Tennis Academy	Runaway Bay	QLD
Declan	Pearce	Shaw Park Tennis Centre	Wooloowin	QLD
Alison	Scott	Beenleigh Tennis Inc	Beenleigh	QLD
		Redlands Lawn Tennis Association Inc	Cleveland
A’Lysse (AJ)	Thompson	Canungra Tennis Club	Canungra	QLD
Kiel	Lindner	Canungra Tennis Club	Canungra	QLD
Chris	Novic	Redcliff Tennis Centre	Redcliff	QLD
Ian	Malpass	Heath Park Hilton Street	East Brisbane	QLD
		Wynnum Tennis	Wynnum
Andrew	Ash	Coolum Beach Tennis Club	Coolum	QLD
Helen	Rice	Bellevue Heights Tennis Club	Bellevue Heights	SA
		Denman Tennis Club	Lower Mitcham
		Netherby Tennis Club	Netherby
Ryan	Russell	Noarlunga Tennis Club	Old Noarlunga	SA
Craig	Palfrey	Birdwood Tennis Club	Birdwood	SA
		Mt Pleasant Tennis Club	Mt Pleasant
		Orion Tennis Club	Woodville
David	Dickson	Glenorchy City Tennis Club	Berriedale	TAS
		Sunshine Tennis Club	Howrah
Martin	Nidorfer	Rosny Park Tennis Club	Rosny	TAS
Mathew	Carswell	Newstead Tennis and Squash Centre	Newstead	TAS
Ben	Osborne	Launceston Regional Tennis Centre	Launceston	TAS
James	Bolzonello	Launceston Regional Tennis Centre	Launceston	TAS
Lawrence	Gileno	Hume Tennis and Community Centre	Craigieburn	VIC
David	Theuma	Sunbury Tennis Club	Sunbury	VIC
Aleksei	Barnikov	Mornington Tennis Centre	Mornington	VIC
Marco	Persi	Clarinda Tennis Club	Clarinda	VIC
		Sacred Heart (Oakleigh) Tennis Club	Oakleigh
Vicky	Lee	Doncaster Tennis Club	Doncaster	VIC
John	Hampson	Bundoora Tennis Club	Bundoora	VIC
		Diamond Valley Baptist Tennis Club	Diamond Creek
		Eastern Golf Club	Yering
		Keon Park Tennis Club	Reservoir
Madison	Sanders	Tennis World-Melbourne Park	Melbourne Park	VIC
Steven	Riley	Airport West Tennis Club	Airport West	VIC
		Belvedere Park Tennis Club	Seaford
		Corpus Christi Tennis Club	Glenroy
Stephen	Storer	Bendigo Tennis Association	Bendigo	VIC
Bryce	Lindeman	Banyule Tennis Club	Heidelberg	VIC
		Camberwell Junction Tennis Club	Camberwell
Ryan	Palfrey	Essendon Tennis Club	Essendon	VIC
Jonathan	Kearney	Carine SHS	Carine Perth	WA
		Herb Graham Recreation Centre	Mirrabooka
Jack	Baldwin	Maylands Tennis Club	Maylands	WA
James	Guilfoile	Samson Recreation Centre	Samson	WA

For further information on Wheelchair Tennis please visit: tennis.com.au/wheelchair