Tag: wheelchair sports

Wheelchair Sports — A cheaper way to travel and have fun.

youshouldgoanyway

I started playing wheelchair tennis in an electric wheelchair back in 2005. From 2007 to 2009, even though I was playing out of my league, I gave up my apartment in Hawaii and traveled the world as a pro (technically) quad wheelchair tennis player.

Not sure who I lost to in this match, but it was probably my friend Jeff who beat me several times 6-0, 6-0.

I totally sucked. I won two matches at that level in two years. I lost most of my matches 6-0, 6-0. In one match (Thanks, Nick Taylor) I won one point. ONE POINT. I like to tell people there were wildfires burning close to the courts in Sydney, Australia, and I just really wanted to get out of there but frankly, Nick is an amazing player and kicked my ass.

Because of wheelchair tennis I was able to go all over the United States and the World, including Italy, S. Africa, and Australia. Since I usually lost quickly, that meant lots of time to work and go sightseeing. I went on a mini-safari in S. Africa and held a Koala in Australia. I also pocketed prize money just for showing up sometimes.

Nowadays there are wheelchair sports organizations popping up all over the place. It’s easy to find wheelchair basketball, rugby, tennis, lacrosse, and even sled hockey teams to play on. These teams do fundraising and travel, often with subsidized expenses. Some of these teams and athletes even go to the Paralympics.

I saw a lot of cool stuff, met a lot of cool people, and learned a lot about how to operate life with a disability. It was the best support group I could have joined and made a huge difference in my life.

I didn’t finish last in my first event, which was nice.

Nowadays I play Boccia, which is essentially adaptive bocce ball for athletes with more challenging disabilities like muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy. It’s a Paralympic sport too, which is awesome! Thanks to the Challenged Athletes Fund, I received a grant to use to travel to a few events this year.

So yeah, traveling a lot using out-of-pocket money can get expensive fast. But if you can find a sport, you might just find yourself in a lot of places you never thought you could get to thanks to tons of great people who want to see you succeed.