Mackenzie Soldan plays for The University of Alabama’s women’s wheelchair basketball team, but she is also the top Paralympic tennis player in the United States, having competed in the 2012 Paralympics in London.
Soldan started the idea to bring a wheelchair tennis team to the University’s growing list of adapted athletics after practicing with coach Miles Thompson to prepare for her competitions.
“We just started hitting the ball, keeping her skills sharpened and through that some other people within the basketball team showed an interest in the sport,” Thompson said. “Dr. [Brent] Hardin came up with the idea to start a team since he saw us working hard.”
Hardin, the director of adapted athletics, added wheelchair tennis as one of the five sports offered on campus last year.
“When we started to look to expand, we did some research on what would be the easiest for us to expand with where we could start small and grow,” Hardin said. “We felt like wheelchair tennis was a real smart move for us.”
The team now has eight members and has made two appearances at the Collegiate Wheelchair Tennis National Championships. This year, the championships were held in Tuscaloosa at the NorthRiver Yacht Club. Alabama won their first championship title with 18 points, beating out the University of Texas-Arlington and two other schools.
“It was crazy,” Thompson said. “It was unexpected, but it was great at the same time.”
Teams from all over the country travel to compete in the national championships.
Senior Karolina Lingyte said there are teams from all over the nation since not many schools offer wheelchair tennis as a sport.
Lingyte became involved with tennis after practicing with Thompson and Soldan during the summer. Now, she has become one of the top team players and is Soldan’s doubles partner.
“It was just for fun – it wasn’t serious,” Lingyte said. “I started practicing in May every day and got really interested with it.”
The wheelchair tennis team members hope to grow the team and continue their recent success in the coming years.
“All the pieces are in place for the team to keep growing,” Thompson said. “We’re so proud to be a part of the University. I think it’s going to be around for a very long time at The University of Alabama.”
