ROCHESTER, N.Y. — USA Tennis is helping to give a budding wheelchair tennis program here in Rochester, a boost.   

Redeat Shumaker is a 10th grader at Rush-Henrietta. She’s always loved watching sports but recently, she’s gotten much more involved in playing them.

“Since I got adopted by my mom, she is very confident in me, and she believes in me so much, so she has me try so many sports and I love doing it,” Shumaker, who uses a wheelchair, says. 

Simone Carvatta is a senior at Rush-Henrietta.  She too loves sports but growing up, there weren’t always options for her to play.

“I saw people on the playground. I’m like okay, I can’t play with them. I can’t be active with them. I can’t play tag. I can’t play football,” Carvatta recalls.  

Rochester Accessible Adventures offers people of all abilities the chance to play any sport that they want.

“We look around and say, well, what’s not here? What’s not being emphasized?” says Anita O’Brien, Executive Director of Rochester Accessible Adventures. “Where do we not see access for people with disabilities? Tennis is not on that list. So we’ve been working over the past three years to change that and make sure if someone wants to play tennis, whether they’re a youth or an adult, there’s a place for them to do that.”

The U.S. Tennis Association took notice and recently awarded RAA a grant to continue to grow its wheelchair tennis program in our region.

“We just feel tennis is easily the most interpretable, meaning if you’re someone who has had an injury or even born with a disability, the ability to go play tennis with your family members and friends who are able-bodied, there really is no complications. There’s no real changes to the rules except a second bounce with a wheel chair athlete,” said Jason Harnett, Director of Wheelchair Tennis for USTA.

With a national organization involved, there are some added perks for the athletes.

“When I heard last year that they did tennis and this Paralympian was going to come and play with us and teach us which I thought was really cool so. Of course I took the opportunity and did it,” Shumaker says. 

Now Schumaker is inspired and considering a future she never thought could be possible. There are now college wheelchair teams and professional athletes who play in the majors, just like able-bodied people.

“If you dreamed to be a professional athlete with a disability, you now have a pathway to go to the very top,” Harnett said.

Carvatta says she’s not looking to get to the top of the tennis world but she is thankful for the chance to have the same opportunities as her able-bodied friends.

“It’s been fun, it’s challenging but it’s a good challenge. You get a workout and you have fun,” Carvatta says.

RAA continues to work with local clubs and courts to build an inclusive tennis community so that any one of these players can go anywhere for a round.

“The experience that you get being surrounded by people who understand you and that you can be competitive with and without having to feel like you don’t belong. That’s what I love” Shumaker says.

For more information about the adaptive tennis program or any of the programs offered by RAA, click here.

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