Lucy Shuker - "I didn't take up sport to be a Paralympian"
On the tennis court Lucy Shuker is known for her skill at the net and her determination to fight for every point.
Off it she’s one of the British wheelchair tennis stars whose passion for getting more disabled people active is as strong as her love for playing and competing at the highest level of her sport. And much of that is because of her own experiences in grassroots tennis long before she was even considering competing at the Grand Slams.
“When I first found tennis it was kind of by accident,” Shuker told Every Body Moves.
“I was 21, I’d just had a motorbike accident and I met Pete Norfolk and we got talking because I was a badminton player before my accident and he lent me a tennis chair and said you know what why don’t you try tennis.
“And I didn’t take up the sport to be a Paralympian or to play Grand Slams, I started playing cause I’d had the accident and my life was suddenly very, very different to what it had been..."
"...Playing tennis made me smile again and challenged me in so many different ways. It meant I could go and play with my friends and family and it was something that helped me find a way to accept both my accident and my disability.
“Then as I started to get better it made a few heads turn but it was thought I was too disabled to compete with the top girls so I fund raised myself to be able to train and to be able to buy a tennis chair.”
Fast forward 18 years and Lucy has had a phenomenal career which has included winning multiple Paralympic medals in women’s doubles and seen her reach Grand Slam doubles finals at the Australia Open and Wimbledon.
But beyond that she has her L1 coaching assistant qualification too and loves to use this to give back to the sport and new players when not travelling the world on the wheelchair tennis tour.
“I love making a difference in that way and getting more people playing,” she said. “That’s what I’ve always been shouting for.
“I think there’s a whole population who don’t play tennis because they maybe think or have been told they are too disabled to play.
“If anyone’s thinking of doing it I say go for it and try it. I’ve loved every minute of playing the sport, even with the highs and lows it’s brought and I can tell you I’ve had plenty of heartbreak.
“Disability sport is incredible at grassroots level and I think tennis is one of those sports that can really make people smile and give them lots of opportunities to be social too however you play it.”
There are a wide range of opportunities to try adaptive and wheelchair tennis in your local area, follow these links to find out more: