This summer athletes with physical disabilites, some who used wheelchairs and others who were ambulatory, were exposed to adaptive tennis at an adaptive camp held in Lake Forest, Ill. The camp was organized by the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA), a non-profit association which provides sports activities for physically and visually impaired youth and adults in the Chicagoland area. This was the first time an adaptive tennis camp has been hosted in this area.
Campers were treated to instruction and guidance by two of the best players in the area, Paul Moran, a local paralympian who played in the 2008 Paralympics and professional coach, Mike Carrico who is Director of Racquet Sports at the Lake Forest Club. The camp was held on August 10th and 11th at the Lake Forest Club. Campers came from as far as Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin. Chris Melton who attended from Grand Rapids, Mi said “This tennis camp was without a doubt the best one I’ve ever been to”. All agreed that the success was due to the coaching expertise and the opportunity to be with their peers who face the same day to day challenges.
Ana Kohout, a ten year old camper summed it up the best, “the camp was really fun, I liked it a lot. Now I’m really into tennis”. For GLASA staff members this is the goal they hoped to achieve.