Para-Standing Tennis launched at Killaloe/Ballina Tennis Club
By Thomas Conway
Tennis coach Wesley O’Brien has been a relentless advocate for promoting inclusivity within his sport for many years.
He has used the game to help child refugees escape the trauma of conflict, and coached tennis to the blind and the visually impaired. Now, he’s embarking on a new initiative, para-standing tennis, which aims to open the court to the many people who have limited physical mobility.
“Basically, para-standing tennis is open to pretty much anyone with a physical disability, who wants to play the game but doesn’t use a wheelchair,” he says.
“It’s primarily aimed at amputees, people with acquired brain injuries, cerebral palsy, or people with a short stature.”
For Wesley, there’s a personal side to this new project. His father, Eddie, was a leg amputee from the age of three, and was subsequently confined to a wheelchair for the later years of his life. That’s part of the reason why Wesley encouraged Enjoy Tennis - the branch of Tennis Ireland which focuses on players with a disability - to pursue the para-standing program.
“Up until this year we had eight programs - wheelchair tennis, the blind tennis, and so on. But, I came across the para-standing tennis a number of years ago. It was introduced in the UK,” he continues.
“I was kind of pushing Enjoy Tennis and saying, look, can we not add this to the list of sports we do - the para-standing tennis. And it was especially personal from my side because of my dad, Eddie.”
Now the project is coming to fruition. Tennis Ireland launched their national para-standing programme in May, and recently, Killaloe-Ballina Tennis Club hosted the Munster launch, welcoming the President of Tennis Ireland, Letty Lucas, alongside a number of prospective players. The event, Wesley says, was a huge success, and moves are now afoot to introduce a course of lessons in Killaloe-Ballina Tennis Club in the autumn.
“The goal now is to run a six-week or an eight-week program in Killaloe-Ballina Tennis Club, maybe get it going in mid-September,” Wesley revealed.
Several years ago, Wesley established his own foundation, Hit and Hope Tennis, which seeks to “use tennis to bring joy and support to children in need, particularly those in refugee camps or in marginalised communities.”
He has travelled extensively, often to the fringes of major crisis zones, carrying with him bags of racquets and balls and nets and various other types of equipment - much of it generously donated by A Sportsman’s Dream in Nenagh.
Back in April he set forth for Amman, the capital of Jordan, to complete a short mission. The experience, while sobering at times, was thoroughly worthwhile, as he recalls.
“Jordan was my first time going into the Middle East. It was a wonderful experience,” he said.
“It was with an organisation called Reclaim Childhood, so I reached out to them, and their focus is 100 per-cent on refugee girls and sports. That’s because, in that region, in the Middle East, girls are very limited in terms of what they can do, what they’re allowed to do.
“Reclaim Childhood is open to girls from all over Jordan, refugee girls and girls from under-privileged backgrounds - and it gives them an opportunity to play sports.”
He funded the trip with various donations. Wesley, a rabid Cork supporter due to his father’s roots in Killeagh, even auctioned away a signed Tipperary GAA jersey which was kindly donated to him. He also gave away a signed jersey from the Kerry senior footballers.
His next trip overseas is to Cairo, Egypt, in January - where he’ll undertake a similar coaching project. He won’t be far from the pyramids or the waters of the Nile, and yet he’ll spend much of his time on a dusty, make-shift court, playing tennis with children who may never even have heard of the game. Humanitarian work, in a sporting form.