RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – As the French Open wraps up this weekend, another tennis event will start in Richmond.
One of the fastest-growing wheelchair sports in the world is tennis. This weekend, Sportable is hosting nationally ranked wheelchair tennis players representing states all over the country at the third annual River City Slam tournament.
“Sportable is a local nonprofit organization that runs adaptive sports recreational and sports programming for people with disabilities and visual impairments,” said Forrest Lodge, director of the tournament.
River City Slam is one of the events the nonprofit brings to the Richmond area each year.
Wheelchair tennis is one of 16 competitive and recreational sports offered by Sportable, which has operated since 2005.
“A lot of the people we serve in the disability community wouldn’t have access to sport or recreational without our organization and programming,” Lodge said.
Without their programming, Ryan Beale wouldn’t be ranked number one in Virginia and top ten nationwide for individual doubles, nor would he have found his new love for tennis.
“I now would classify myself as a tennis player, but prior to my accident, no, not at all,” Beale said. “This kind of hits home for me because I actually moved back to Richmond because of Sportable. Just because I was driving an hour and a half, you know, once a week to play tennis.”
Beale will be competing in the doubles and singles tournament this weekend, hoping to win it all at home.
“You know you want to win; that’s the ultimate goal,” Beale said. “So winning your hometown tournament would be a lot more special than any other tournament.”
The tournament kicked off Friday morning, and matches will continue through Sunday.
For a full schedule of events and matches, head over to Sportable’s website.
Copyright 2023 WWBT. All rights reserved.