Hall of Fame to Induct Wheelchair Tennis Founder
The International Tennis Hall of Fame will be inducting its first Wheelchair Tennis athlete in July this year.
Brad Parks (USA), the founder of Wheelchair Tennis, will be making history in 2010, after being named to the Contributor category by Hall of Fame chairman Christopher Clouser and President Tony Trabert. Parks said that he did not expect to be inducted, and was very surprised when the International Tennis Hall of Fame called him to give the news.
“There were many great tennis people on the list this year, as there are every year, and I figured I was not in their league,” Parks said. “I think it will be good for Wheelchair Tennis to get recognized in this way – it is all very exciting.”
Parks started the first international Wheelchair Tennis event, the US Open, held in Irvine, USA. He was the Tournament Chairman for 18 years, setting the standard for others to follow. Parks is also credited with spreading the sport internationally by holding clinics throughout Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
In 1988, the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation (IWTF) was formed to govern this growing international sport with Parks as the inaugural president. He served on the Management Committee for many years and was a driving force of international Wheelchair Tennis. In 1998, the IWTF was fully integrated into the International Tennis Federation, making it the first disabled sport to achieve such a union on the international level. Parks took the gold medal in the Men’s Doubles event at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games.
"If I think back before the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis was formed, the idea of being a part of the ITF and the USTA was our hope and part of our future goals. We had a lot to overcome. It was when I was at a tournament in Grand Rapids in maybe 1985 and I was looking around and I saw a bunch of Wheelchair Tennis players in sports chairs, dressed like tennis players with rackets in their hands. We were at an indoor tennis club and I said to myself: "We are here, we made it, this is what I always dreamed of, tennis players playing in a tournament, and the tennis players just happen to be in wheelchairs."
For more information about Wheelchair Tennis, please visit www.itftennis.com/wheelchair.
