The mission of Tennis SERVES is to teach people who have visual impairment or blindness to play and enjoy the game of tennis, with a dream of one day seeing tennis played in the Paralympics. Sejal “Sage” Vallabh, a Massachusetts high school tennis player, discovered tennis for the visual impaired while working a summer internship in Japan.
Last November, APH Project Leader Tristan Pierce received an email message from Ayako Matsui, Secretary General for the Japan Blind Tennis Federation and co-author with Tristan on APH’s 30-Love Tennis manual, about a young woman in the Boston area who wanted to teach tennis to students with visual impairment. Tristan contacted Sage to let her know who in Massachusetts had purchased APH’s 30-Love Tennis Kits. Since then, Sage organized her Newton North High School teammates to volunteer and teach students in the Boston area. Read about this remarkable group of teens who have introduced tennis to many of their visually impaired and blind peers.
When asked what the next steps for Tennis SERVES are, Sage enthusiastically responds that if another school for the blind and visually impaired is interested in starting a Tennis SERVES program, they should contact info@tennisserves.org. To learn more about Tennis SERVES and to watch a great video of the Newton North tennis players teaching tennis, go to the Tennis SERVES website: www.tennisserves.org.
