Las Vegas Wheelchair Tennis (LVWT) received a $1,000 grant in 2009. The money was used to buy new cases of tennis balls, 2 Dunlop mini nets, and assist in running the 2nd annual Las Vegas Wheelchair Open.
LVWT is growing slowly but steadily. We work very closely with the Adaptive Recreation program of the City of Las Vegas. They allow us to use their 8 tennis chairs. We also have been invited by the Clark County School District to introduce wheelchair tennis during their monthly sports night for all disabled kids. We can now boast that we taught several visually impaired kids how to hit a tennis ball. Not sure who was more excited, the kids or the volunteers.
A brand new city tennis facility, recently provided us with more court time and a ball machine to use on Saturday afternoons and some of the older kids (10 and above) are starting to come out and enjoy themselves. Kids younger than 10 struggle too much with mobility while holding a racquet. Unlike able-bodied sports, the cooperation between disabled sports is much better and less competitive and we encourage kids to participate in various sports. After all, we all are pulling for these kids to become more mobile and have fun all while being active! We want to personally thank the USTA for their generous grant that allowed us to continue to grow the game of wheelchair tennis and help us with our programs, we look forward to an exciting 2010 ahead for us.