Thunder Bay Tennis Centre is bringing athletes in the accessibility community an exciting opportunity in the form of wheelchair tennis. Jamie Grieve, head pro at the Thunder Bay Tennis Centre, stated “it’s been something that I’ve personally wanted to do for a long time.” This summer, the centre is teaming up with the Thunder Bay Accessible Sport Council to launch the wheelchair tennis program to address the desire for accessible sports. Darren Lillington, one of SCIO’s regional service managers, also weighed in saying there has always been demand for accessible sports in Thunder Bay, but the need for specialized equipment was a barrier.

But now, thanks to grant money from the Thunder Bay Community Foundation and the HAGI Foundation, 11 new multi-sport chairs are ready to take action on the court. Thanks to the specialized chairs, Lillington added that “with the new sport chairs, we’ll also be able to offer wheelchair basketball, wheelchair badminton … a variety of wheelchair sports which we’ll be developing as we move forward.”

It’s an exciting time in Thunder Bay, and we thank Darren for his involvement in making athletics accessible.