Intermountain / Colorado

HighFIVE: Jane Shafroth

Rachel Morley | August 27, 2024

Celebrating 30 years of wheelchair tennis with CWTF founder Jane Shafroth

 

In 1993, when Jane Shafroth was the receptionist at the Colorado Tennis Association (USTA Colorado), she attended a USTA Recreation conference in Dallas with Director, Betsy Carey, and was able to watch a wheelchair tennis doubles exhibition involving Randy Snow and Brad Parks, two of the pioneers of competitive wheelchair tennis. Soon after, a Recreation Program Coordinator position was created within USTA Colorado, and Jane found herself in a new role. This seemingly small change of events changed Jane’s life and wheelchair tennis in Colorado.

 

“Pretty quickly, I was organizing a wheelchair tennis camp at CU Boulder. It was very successful with 40 athletes. We had handicapped dorms, a conference center for meals (they added a ramp to the entrance for us), and courts, all within pushing distance. At the end of the camp, one of the tennis pros asked me what was next. He challenged me to not just sit on the success of the camp,” says Jane. 

 

Jane took that challenge and made the most of it. The England native, who moved to Colorado 47 years ago, left her job the following year and founded the Colorado Wheelchair Tennis Foundation (CWTF). Her impact on wheelchair tennis in Colorado was felt immediately and continues to be recognized today. 

 

“Jane is a true champion for wheelchair tennis. She saw a need and founded the CWTF to promote and support wheelchair tennis in Colorado. Her vision provided access to wheelchair athletes who wanted to learn and play tennis, and she helped bring many new people into the sport. Not only has she made an enormous impact in Colorado, but her contributions have been felt across the country and internationally,” says Lisa Schaefer, USTA Colorado Associate Executive Director, who has known and worked with Jane since the inception of the CWTF.

 

The initial days of the CWTF were not without challenges for Jane. “I left my job at USTA Colorado and went back to coaching tennis at Kent Denver School, and teaching summer lessons and wheelchair programs for Denver Parks and Recreation. It was hard to no longer have a full-time job, and to raise enough money to pay me a small salary.” 

 

But Jane’s love and passion for tennis, a sport her mom introduced her to when she was 10, kept her committed to the Foundation. She began managing and coaching the Quad Tennis Team at the 1995 Olympic Festival in Boulder, which started the push to have Quad tennis added to the Paralympics and World Team Cup. After just a few years, she was seeing amazing success. Numerous tournaments began sprouting up throughout Colorado and the Intermountain section, along with the start of One Up One Down Leagues. Rich Berman, a CWTF member, began working with Paralympic Gold Medalist David Hall to produce wheelchair tennis teaching videos, and the National Wheelchair Tennis Foundation merged with the USTA in 1998.

Jane says “I am extremely proud of many things we have accomplished, but the athletes who have come out of our programs bring me great joy. From Nick Taylor, a multiple Paralympic Medalist and Grand Slam winner, who attended one of our camps as a 15 year-old, to Terry Chase, our first USTA league tennis player. Sabina Czauz and Tomas Majetic, junior players who have competed at the US Open and were part of the gold medal winning 2024 US Junior World Team Cup, to Grayson Fox, who will enter the University of Houston in January as the first player from Colorado to earn a college scholarship to play on a wheelchair tennis team.”

In 1998, Jane left the country for a year to sail, which left her with concerns about whether the Foundation would continue on, but she credits many people for their dedication to continuing on the CWTF’s mission to “Promote wheelchair tennis throughout the state of Colorado to players of all ages, sex, race and levels of play; act as a resource to further the development of the state's competitive players; and encourage the incorporation of wheelchair tennis into the mainstream.” 

 

One of those people is Bill Trubey, who served as the CWTF’s Executive Director for many years after Jane left. He says, “I met Jane via a phone call back in the mid-1990s, when she was canvasing Denver area wheelchair athletes to see if they’d be interested in playing tennis. A wheelchair tennis camp, hosted at the CU Boulder courts was being held, and she wanted wheelchair basketball, skiing, and road racing athletes to join in the fun. We had no clue what it was about, but her motivational skills convinced me and several others to attend the camp. Her commitment was incredible, and I fondly remember one afternoon when Mother Nature decided to rain on the clinic. She quickly got Rich Berman to donate his small single indoor court as a backup facility, to allow the camp to continue through the rain. Getting all those players in wheelchairs into the “warehouse” was a sight to see, let alone figuring out how to hit the ball around!”

 

Bill continues, “In the formative years of the CWTF, Jane took the reins from a rag-tag group of players and helped form the non-profit entity that exists today. Her attention to detail of operations, fundraising and financial management, helped guide and structure the framework that continues in 2024. Her ability to work with tennis management communities, including USTA partners, helped build relationships that might not have happened without her leadership.”

 

Jane’s accomplishments have been noted by more than those she has worked closely with. In 2016, she was an honoree for the Colorado Sportswomen of the Year, for her work spearheading wheelchair tennis at the Colorado State Games.

 

Thirty years later, Jane is still very involved with wheelchair tennis in Colorado. She still works closely with the CWTF board and spends much of her time as the manager and travel coach for Sabine Czauz, currently the No. 7 ranked junior wheelchair player internationally. 

 

“I am excited about the future of wheelchair tennis”, says Jane. “Thanks to the complete merger and integration in all facets (recreational, competitive, and national team tennis) with its non-disabled organizations, at the national and international levels, disabled players now have the opportunity to do anything anyone else can. The CWTF has gone through many different lives and is now focused on the future, and I continue to be excited to be a part of it!”

 

To learn more about the Colorado Wheelchair Tennis Foundation, email CWTF Director, Colby Kortum.

MidFirst Bank is one of the largest privately owned banks and this combination of size and private ownership provides our customers with a special brand of banking. We are a strong supporter of the communities we serve, investing time and money in important educational, charitable and civic organizations. Our volunteerism is powered by our employees from all of the communities in which we live and share with our customers. MidFirst Bank is a proud partner of USTA Colorado.

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