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Leading Wheelchair Tennis Juniors Receive Tuition From Top Coaches

The 17 best wheelchair tennis juniors with coaches and organisers lined up on a court at ITFs International Junior Camp
Photo: ITF (The 17 best juniors in the world practiced together at ITFs international camp)

At the 2nd International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) International Junior Camp staged from August 7 to 11 2002, at the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, USA, 17 of the best junior players in the world received tuition from some of the top coaches in Wheelchair Tennis. Players and coaches at the Camp came from Canada, Chile,Mexico, Sweden and the USA. The Camp was led by ITF Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer Mark Bullock and Dan James, the US Paralympic Coach. Also on the coaching staff were Paralympic silver medallist Nancy Olsson, and bronze medallist, Scott Douglas.

The Camp was an ideal opportunity for juniors to prepare for the forthcoming Invacare World Team Cup by Camozzi in Italy and both the US and Canadian teams attended the Camp. Stefan Olsson (Sweden) and Kaitlyn Verfeurth (USA), the 2002 winners of the prestigious French tournament Les Petits As, attended the Camp as part of their training schedule. For the Mexican and Chilean players it was their first overseas trip. Oscar Mendez, 15, from Mexico described the Camp as “the most awesome thing I have done in my life”. It was the first time Mexican players had attended the ITF Camp in the USA, while Chile was sending a player for the second successive year.

The players received tuition in the mornings and the afternoons were devoted to matchplay. The tournament produced some entertaining tennis with Sweden’s Stefan Olsson, 15, winning the singles with victories over Kevin Green (USA), Zack Sikora (USA) and Danny Fik (USA). Olsson paired up with fellow Les Petits As singles champion Kaitlyn Verfeurth (USA) to win the doubles over Fik and Sikora 4:1, 4:3 in the final.

Mark Bullock
ITF Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer