Learning to Roll Over Life’s Obstacles : Top Wheelchair Tennis Players Ready for Irvine Tournament

Brad Parks and Rick Slaughter believe that being in a wheelchair isn’t a handicap in all facets of life.

Parks and Slaughter are trying to spread that message through tennis. Parks, 29, and Slaughter, 24, are two of the world’s best wheelchair tennis players and advocates of the view that athletics can break down stereotypes about the handicapped.

“I don’t like it when people make you more handicapped by making a fuss out of your situation,” said Parks, the world’s top-ranked player. “I can open doors for myself and sometimes I get frustrated when people go out of their way to help me.”

Parks and Slaughter are participating in the United States Wheelchair Tennis Championships at the Irvine Racquet Club through Oct. 19.

They have become ambassadors of sorts for their sport, traveling to tournaments throughout the United States and Europe. They also sponsor tennis clinics through the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis, an organization that Parks formed in 1979, three years after being paralyzed in a Utah skiing accident.

“This year we had an all-juniors tournament and we also sponsored 10 camps for wheelchairs. My main goal is for handicapped children to have the same opportunities as able-bodied children do,” said Parks of Laguna Beach.

Along those lines, he has helped design lighter wheelchairs better suited for sports.

“I broke my first wheelchair in three weeks,” he said. “You’re not nearly as handicapped in these (lighter) chairs. It’s like the difference between driving a truck and a Porsche.”

Slaughter, who was ranked as a juniors player before being paralyzed in a car accident at 17, says it’s important to concentrate on the present. He’s the world’s third-ranked wheelchair tennis player.

“There’s no point in getting depressed about it,” he said. “The accident either makes you or breaks you, and in my case it gave me a lot of opportunities.”

Parks agrees with his singles rival and doubles partner.

“Everybody thinks being in a wheelchair is the worst thing in the world. It’s really not that bad. If I sat around and moped, I’d have a miserable life.”