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Native Hawaiian, Shelby Baron pushes hard at the 2010 camp
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2010 Wheelchair tennis camp.
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Team El Salvador enjoys some downtime at the hotel.
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After the 2009 USTA-ITF Junior Wheelchair Tennis Camp in Mission Viejo, CA Jason Harnett, Jeremiah Yolkut, and Dan James met and agreed: the camp needed to grow. What we couldn’t predict was attendance more than doubling in a single year. The 2010 campers numbered 25 from five different countries and 12 states. Juniors from the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and El Salvador joined together to have a truly memorable week
Tennis
The camp is a combination of training with coaches in the morning and an ITF Junior Tournament in the afternoon. All of the children embraced new knowledge and thrived in competition. They worked with coaches Jason Harnett, Dan James, Paul Walker, Karin Korb, Anthony Lara, Dean Oba, Wanderson Calvacante, and Mario Lucero Guevara. For the first time ever we had enough players to split the draws into a boys division and a girls division. Natalya Mayara (Brazil) won the event over Shelby Baron (USA), while Pedro Rocha (Brazil) defeated Ryan Nelson (USA) in the boys final. It was a great competition! For some, including Shelby Baron, it was their first wheelchair tennis tournament ever. For others it was a continuation of a quest to reach the top of the international stage. For all it was simply fun to play and watch excellent tennis.
FUN!
On Wednesday July 14, 2010 the campers and coaches put away their racquets and headed to Knott’s Berry Farm. Don’t let the name fool you, this was a day of roller coasters and games. Some braved the big rides and some soaked up the atmosphere of a fun day in the sun. This is definitely one of the best days of camp that has now become an annual tradition. Over the years the kids have been to Disneyland, Universal Studios, and now Knott’s Berry Farm. We can’t wait for the next adventure in 2011.
History
It is not often children get to meet living history, but at the 2010 USTA-ITF Junior Wheelchair Tennis Camp that is exactly what happened. Brad Parks, the "Godfather of Wheelchair Tennis", stopped by the banquet to speak to the children. He spoke of the beginning of wheelchair tennis and his awe at what it has become around the world. He spoke of teaching at camps just like this one and how much it meant to him. It was especially meaningful since Parks had been inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame the weekend before. Truly a legend. It was young Reo Kobayashi, an eleven year old with cerebral palsy, who said it best. He raised his hand and said in front of the entire group, "I would just like to thank you for starting wheelchair tennis and giving kids like us a chance to have a camp like this." Perfect!
The juniors from El Salvador came to camp with assistance from the National Wheelchair Sports Fund who run the Florida Open. It was the first time these campers had left home for such a special trip. It was a tribute to Randy Snow who was in El Salvador on a Silver Fund trip when he passed away. Randy, who ran so many camps just like this one in his career, was honored in the perfect place. The last day of camp the kids gathered and we honored Randy once again with the most important part of any wheelchair tennis camp. One coach yelled, "Wheelchair Tennis!" and in chorus the entire group returned with, "We Love It! We Love It! We Love It!" Randy would have been proud.
Thank You
Running a camp is not easy and it is not done without the help of so many people. The camp is grateful to the USTA for their generous support, the ITF for their generous support and ensuring that this truly was an international camp, the City of Mission Viejo for being the best host city we could hope for, the incredible volunteers for their commitment and professionalism, and the parents for making sure their kids were able to have this experience. The camp directors (Jason Harnett, Jeremiah Yolkut, and Dan James) plan on making next year’s camp even better. See you on the courts in 2011 in Mission Viejo, CA.