Last Saturday, April 23, more than 14 able-bodied tennis players and six wheelchair athletes played in the most inclusive tennis tournament in Mexico held at at the Raquet Club in San Juan Cosala.
Jocotepec resident and national champion wheelchair tennis player Tito Bautista won second place along with Nicolas Kolpowsky at the tournament. Richard St. Denis and Farid Aho won the doubles tittle.
The inclusive tournament was organized by Bautista along with Brian and Judy Keck of the Raquet Club. The second annual event was played at the hard courts of the club with sponsorship from Jocotepec Sports Department (COMUDE) director Alejandro Mendoza Larios.
Bautista is ranked third nationally in wheelchair tennis and represented Mexico in the 2011 Guadalajara PanAmerican Games.
The up-down format joins a wheelchair player with an able bodied counterpart against another team made up of the same formation. After the trophy presentation, a lunch was enjoyed by all.
Bautista serves as sports director for the non-profit organization World Access Project (WAP). WAP Director Richard St. Denis and his team are travelling to Puerto Vallarta to donate more than 50 wheelchairs, walkers and canes there. This will be the fourth year that WAP distributes medical equipment to the port. The Raquet Club members and the local DIF representative will invite WAP to plan a donation for the handicapped in the Lake Chapala area in the future. To know more about the organization see www.worldaccessproject.org.