TENNIS
was a challenge to me. The chair is 60 – 80 per cent of your game. If you’ve got your chair set up right, it’s like a Formula 1 car. With your body set into that chair, every time you move it will go where you go, so it’s really an extension of your racket arm. Twenty years ago, we didn’t really have sports chairs. Playing in a day chair in those days was a bit like running a marathon in clogs,” he says.
Growing the game According to Norfolk, wheelchair ten- nis now has sanctioned events at all four Grand Slams and the NEC Wheelchair Tour boasts 150 events in 36 countries around the world. However, he’d still like to see the sport more visible and be- ing played at all local tennis clubs and facilities – with the same performance pathway as the LTA has for juniors. “The more wheelchairs we have for
The Dan Maskill Trust raises funds to support disabled people who want to play tennis and is keen to encourage applications for grants from disabled tennis providers
new players to try out the sport, the more we will be able to grow the game,” he says. “I have been very lucky to achieve extraordinary things in wheel- chair tennis and to be able to motivate new players and keep promoting wheel- chair tennis is one of my goals. “I would hope we will be able to
maximise the new Eton Manor tennis site [a Paralympic venue] for some ex- citing wheelchair tennis tournaments and, of course, I would urge all those in a position to do so, to capitalise upon the exposure the Paralympic Games has brought to our sport.” The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust is keen
using a mini tennis net, with the doubles tramline as the boundary. Two bounces are allowed before a visually impaired player must hit a return and three bounces are allowed if the player is totally blind. The Paralympics have undoubtedly
inspired a generation of new able and disabled people to take up a sport. Quad wheelchair tennis world number one Peter Norfolk missed out on winning his third successive gold medal but took a tremendous silver in the Quad Doubles with partner Andy Lapthorne.
Norfolk is closely associated with the
DMTT as his company is its official wheel- chair supplier. He was struck down in a motorbike accident aged 19 and broke his back and shoulder blades. A self- confessed sports addict, being confined to a wheelchair didn’t stop him playing sport. He came across wheelchair tennis on a visit to Stoke Mandeville Hospital and immediately knew it was the sport for him. “I simply went along to my local tennis courts and I was lucky that I found a coach who didn’t see any boundaries. The wheelchair was a not a hindrance, it
56 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
to encourage applications for grants and support those looking to develop tennis for disabled people. Many of the statistics about disabled sport offer a challenge; disabled people are much less likely than able bodied people to play sport as a club member; they are much less likely to receive sports tuition or coaching or to have taken part in organised competition. However, from what we see as a very positive perspec- tive, 14.4 per cent of disabled people would like to do more sport and more than 75 per cent of those who wish to do more sport are currently undertaking zero sessions of sporting activity. l
For more information about the criteria for applications to the DMTT, email Gilly English:
danmaskell@sportwins.co.uk The next meeting of the Trustees is 28th February 2013 and closing date for applications is 7th February 2013.
Issue 4 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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