From Bucks County Courier Times, Sunday, December 30, 2007
Erika Rebstock lobbed the ball as hard as she could. At 8 years old, she is the eldest of four siblings who gleefully ran around the tennis court Saturday at the Bucks County Racquet Club in Upper Makefield.
Erika was there for First Volley, a non-competitive tennis clinic for amputees and orthosis-wearers. The clinic gives Erika a chance to play the game she picked up nearly two years ago after spying rackets and balls at her grandparents' house.
Erika wears an arm prosthesis. She was born with a deformed hand.
“[Tennis] was sort of like baseball,'' she thought back then. “And it just got me interested.''
Erika's father, Erik Rebstock, drove his four kids to the clinic from their Medford, N.J., home. Erika joined about 15 other players who wore orthotic braces or prosthetic limbs and their friends and family.
Started by the Orthotic and Prosthetic Assistance Fund of Lower Southampton, the First Volley clinics began in August 2005. Only one clinic was held that year. Now entering its third year, fund members hope to hold more than 20 clinics in various parts of the country.
The fund originally was established in 1995 to help paralyzed people receive proper care during the Paralympic Games. Today the fund supports fitness activities for amputees, including golf and swimming clinics.
“My student Dana was really what started the clinics,” said Darren Kindred, a director of tennis at the Bucks County club and for First Volley clinics. Dana Bezar's enthusiasm for the game sparked her instructors to look into doing the same for others. So began the clinics.
Bezar, 25, is a quadrilateral amputee from Titusville, N.J., who has been playing tennis now for about the 10 years. She lost her limbs when she was only 21/2 years old because of an illness.
“I would watch my mom and brother play and thought, it looks fun. Why can't I play tennis?” she said.
Bezar started lessons under an instructor at the Bucks County club and soon she was swinging away with a racket attached to a modified prosthetic arm with a clamp. She began working with Kindred, and now plays at as many First Volley clinics as she can under his instruction.
She looked comfortable and happy on the court Saturday. So did the 45 volunteers who were playing or teaching, picking up stray balls, or just enjoying the games.
Representatives from the U.S. Tennis Association were there too, filming a documentary about First Volley. Recently the association's Tennis and Education Foundation awarded the fund a $20,000 grant. This will cover the costs of eight clinics and support the fund's budget of $166,000, said Robin Burton, executive director of the fund.
The U.S. Tennis Association also just named the fund the USTA Middle States Organization of the Year, and honored First Volley as the USTA Adaptive Tennis National Community Service Award Winner for 2008. This was in no small part for helping hundreds of amputees across the country have unique opportunities, said Burton.
“What we're trying to do is to get people back up and active and engaged in life,” she said. “We were extremely pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm of the players.”
Among the enthusiasts Saturday was Brandon Holiday of Moorestown, N.J. Despite being an amputee for the past year and a half, the tennis coach at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College doesn't hesitate when it comes to challenging physical pursuits. He was the top-ranked tennis player in college at the University of Maryland, and Holiday now competes in extreme sports for amputees, like rock climbing.
He'll join a mixed martial arts competition this year, in which his prosthetic limb will be covered in foam so he can kick with it.
“It's not a limitation, just a matter of being able to adapt,” he said.
First Volley clinic schedule:
Feb. 29: The Caribe Royale Resort Tennis Courts in Orlando, Fla.
March 16: Sponsored by Clark Orthotics & Prosthetics, in Columbus, Ohio
May 17: Sponsored by Berke Prosthetics, in Portola Valley, Calif.
July 11: Adventure Amputee Camp, in Bryson City, N.C.
This is not a final schedule for 2008. More clinics may be organized. For more information call the Orthotic and Prosthetic Assistance Fund at 215-752-5756.
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