ANGUILLA—The Anguilla Tennis Academy (ATA) has launched a Wheelchair Tennis Programme to provide persons with special needs the opportunity to play and grow in the sport of tennis.
President of the ATA Mitchelle Lake said, “We at the ATA are excited about this initiative as it allows for everyone regardless of their physical circumstances to be given the opportunity to develop and enjoy the sport of tennis. I have no doubt that the students at the Arijah Children’s Foundation and others in the Anguillan community selected for the training sessions, will benefit from this pilot programme.”
Initially, the free classes will continue every Saturday at 9:00am for a period of six months. Lake and his support team hope to garner the necessary funding to secure wheelchairs and equipment for the participants and to upgrade the facility with the necessary amenities including wheelchair ramps to accommodate the players. It is also the hope of the ATA that players from Anguilla will eventually compete in wheelchair tennis tournaments and look forward to the possibility of hosting such tournaments at the ATA in the future. The rules of wheelchair tennis and able-bodied tennis are the same, except for one rule; wheelchair tennis players get two bounces.
Lake is currently in discussion with Jason Allen, Wheelchair Tennis and Technical Manager of the United States Tennis Association regarding the development of wheelchair tennis at the ATA. Allen works in tandem with Jason Harnett, National Manager and Coach for the USA in building grassroots programmes as well as managing the professional and high performance players.
Through his strategic partnership with personnel at the United States Tennis Association, Lake said, “ATA coaches will receive the required training and assistance by way of materials and a webinar. Once the programme is running consistently, officials and coaches from the USTA will visit Anguilla in an effort to follow up with the coaches and give additional training.”
Renuka Harrigan, Founder of the Arijah Children's Foundation commented, "We are excited that the Anguilla Tennis Academy is growing its vision to include tennis instruction for children with special needs and bring wheelchair tennis to Anguilla.”
