Report
First Volley Tennis Clinic
Circle C Tennis Club
Saturday,
Sponsored by Orthotic Prosthetic
Technologies of
Orthotic & Prosthetic
Technologies of
Clinic was led by First Volley’s Director of Tennis, Darren
Kindred, who was assisted by Circle C staff pro, Mari Toro.
Some on-court coaching was also offered
by Henry Cox, a representative from the USTA Adaptive Tennis Committee and a
congenital upper extremity amputee.
We had 16 amputees on court, including Greg, a Wounded Warrior, Nora, an 80
years young sombrero wearing tennis player and Bruce, who had only been on his
prosthesis for three weeks. We also
offered adaptive tennis to Ed and his wife, Janet who are hearing impaired and
Frank who had vision issues. Darren
divided the participants between two courts and he and Mari put them through
their paces of skills and drills for over two and a half hours.
Banners were displayed from OPAF’s Gold Level sponsors, Otto Bock and
Ohio Willow Wood as well as Comfort Products and Prince Sports and the Amputee
Coalition of America. Still
photography was taken. Over 50
people, adults and children participated in the afternoon event.
Clinic concluded with the always popular Prince Sports Hitting for
Prizes. Everyone went home with a Prince
poster, t-shirt, luggage tag and more! OPT
First Volley Clinic comments included:
“This is a good way to get moving, need to have it more often” Ed Smith, amputee
“I was a ball boy as my wife participated. We will be continuing to play. Great Idea!” Byron Lee, spouse
“”Mari and Darren were personable and encouraging-as well as considerate of personal handicaps in a way which was not condescending to any of us! Great Job!” Lavon Lee, amputee
“The facility and trainers were exceedingly helpful and positive” Nora Richart, amputee
“I had a great time and recommend this to everyone! Thanks so much!” Julie Estrada, amputee
“I was a spectator. I was supposed to be a participant but was in an auto collision and sore and unable to play” Kim Lewis, amputee
“Great job Robin and Darren. Really enjoyed it” Jaime Ortiz, amputee
“I had a wonderful time, felt good to be able to hit the balls and enjoy the outside day! Darren and Robin are a pleasure to be around! Thanks so much” JoAnn Boehmer, amputee
“My first time participating at a First Volley Clinic was wonderful. I really enjoyed helping the players learn how to play tennis. I’m really glad I was able to help and meet such wonderful people,” Mari Toro, Circle C Tennis Pro
“Everyone made it enjoyable and comfortable” Frank Villanueva, amputee
“This needs to be sent to Kirk Anderson, USTA National” Henry Cox, amputee
“Coaches and staff did a great job. It was a great day for tennis” Aaron Foreman, PT, CPO
“Had an excellent time in being able to play a sport again, even with only being in my prosthetic for three weeks” Bruce Smith, amputee
“Great positive energy, lots of smiles” Heather Haenes, amputee
“There should be more activities like this…we had a blast and met some great people and made friends that will last a lifetime” Keron West-Morrison, amputee
“The clinic was awesome. It was great to see so many amputees enjoying themselves. The clinic was fun, well-paced and everyone had a great time. Thank you for this great event” Shelly Foreman, volunteer
“Excellent” Ray Baladad, amputee
“It was more fun than expected” Harry Morrison, volunteer
“Robin Burton was tip top in setting this up. The whole staff and especially Darren were just awesome” Frieda Borth, amputee
“I had a great time. Continue the good work” Brenda Washington, amputee
All clinic participants were given an OPT First Volley t-shirt as well as First Volley tennis socks and a goodie bag from OPT. Robin announced to all attendees about the OPAF/ACA partnership and the importance of ACA membership. Several ACA membership forms were distributed for completion.
Written by: Robin Burton Director OPAF & First Volley