Recently I did an interview with Gary May, a tennis coach at Surbiton racket and fitness club. He teaches special needs tennis classes to around 75 - 100 kids with a range of disabilities and works around 24-28 hours a week. It ranges from ‘mild’ children with things like Down syndrome or ADHD to ‘severe’ kids with things like autism. Gary puts in lots of time and effort to make sure each child has a class tailored to their needs, making it easier if the skills are too hard but also keeping it challenging for the kids.
Gary didn’t always want to be a tennis coach though, he started out as a sound technician. He worked on the London 2012 Paralympic Games, he put together the music and sound for the opening ceremony. The theme was inspire a generation and watching the opening ceremony 7 years ago, I was definitely inspired.
Gary first started volunteering in tennis in 2000 and started at the surbiton tennis club in 2012, he started off working with ‘mainstream’ kids and started coaching for special needs children in 2013. He decided to start coaching disabled kids because he really felt like he could make more of a difference with these kids and because he loves it.
Gary works very hard for every single child he teaches and does all this while having a disability of his own. Gary has Monoplegia which is a type of paralysis which only affects one limb. In Gary’s case it’s his leg. He was diagnosed in 2012 and started physiotherapy and used plaster casts to correct it as much as possible. However Gary is the very definition of perseverance, he does not in any way let his disability control his life or dictate what he can and can’t do. He doesn’t get nearly enough credit for all the truly amazing work he does. Gary and his world is most certainly an inspiration for our generation.
