TORONTO – Kai Schrameyer believed it was time that wheelchair tennis had its own independent grassroots to high performance plan in the Tennis Canada structure.
His vision came true last week as Tennis Canada announced the Wheelchair Tennis Whole Player Development Pathway (WTWPDP), a player development guide with the aim of fostering lifelong passion for and participation in wheelchair tennis.
It follows the launch of the Whole Player Development Pathway (WPDP) last year.
‘’There wasn’t a long-term athlete development plan for wheelchair tennis and we needed a plan that was more comprehensive,’’ said Schrameyer, a former world no. 1 and three-time Paralympic medallist, who now leads Canada’s wheelchair tennis program.
‘’We took last year’s structure but made sure all the content that is in the wheelchair pathway is clearly relevant.’’
The pathway is built around seven distinct stages of development: discovery, active start, fundamentals, development, consolidation performance and life as a pro.
‘’The discovery stage is distinctly different because wheelchair tennis is not as well known,’’ said Schrameyer. ‘’And from there we want to access quality instructional tools and maximize player potential whether it is on the recreational side or the competitive side.’’
Two-time Paralympian Rob Shaw, one of Canada’s best-ever wheelchair tennis players and currently ranked in the world’s top-10 in the quad class, said a pathway would have been beneficial to his career starting out.
‘’I probably wouldn’t have so many tournaments right away,’’ he said. ‘’I wasn’t technically, tactically, mentally ready for that. I should have been training with coaches and building my skills and knowledge.’’
While the next Rob Shaw could be a player who graduates through all the steps of the pathway, that’s only one goal of the program.
‘’We’re not just trying to develop good wheelchair tennis players but all-around great people,’’ said Schrameyer. ‘’We want them to develop character, leadership, and other social skills.’’
Shaw says the key to keeping someone in a sport is through a holistic process.
‘’The players want to progress in a healthy way and with structure,’’ he said. ‘’If we can really execute these three to four first stages really well, we’re going to set up these players to play this sport their entire lives.’’
Venos, McIntyre repeat winners at Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships
The new pathway’s launch was timed with the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships, held in Bedford, N.S. last week.
“There was a lot of good quality competition, and the players were very happy with the tournament,” said Schrameyer.
For the second year in a row, Thomas Venos and Mitch McIntyre both swept their divisions at the tournament, each taking home a singles and doubles title.
They were joined in the winner’s circle by a new national champion in the women’s singles, 18-year-old Frédérique Bérubé-Perron of Montreal.
‘’She clearly has the potential to go far,’’ said Schrameyer about Bérubé-Perron. “She is the bright light as far as our NextGen group is concerned.”