DUBAI A Dubai teenager has taken it upon himself to teach tennis to special needs athletes in the city. Sixteen-year-old Turkish expat Sami Isakolu’s heart-warming initiative, Down the Line Winners (DTLW), has helped scores of people with disabilities take to the courts since its launch three years ago.
How it all started
An 11th grader at Dubai American Academy (DAA), Isakolu said the idea to start a nonprofit tennis activity for people with disabilities struck him in 2013 when an accident left him wheelchair-bound for six months.
“I broke my ankle while playing tennis and was rendered immobile for several agonising months. My injury was temporary, but I could not stop thinking about the plight of people with permanent disabilities. So I decided to do something about them,” Isakolu recalled.
Researching about charity sports initiatives for special needs people from his hospital bed, Isakolu came across the US-based
Jensen-Schmidt Tennis Acad-emy started by tennis professional Vince Schmidt after his son was born with Down Syndrome.
“I immediately called their founders to understand their curriculum so I could replicate it in Dubai. My tennis coach put me in touch with a special needs support group in Dubai and soon I was working on a plan to help special needs people overcome their challenges and play tennis,” he said.
Over the years, the DTLW initiative has grown from strength to strength. Today, it assists 30 special needs athletes who take tennis lessons at Dubai American Academy which has allowed Isakolu to use their courts.
Schedule
Classes are held every Saturday between 10am and noon with nearly 15 volunteers teaming up with people with disabilities. The results are for all to see. British expats Georgina Corley and Santi Fraser - both special needs who could barely hold a racket - have now moved to the advanced level.
“In the last match I did over 20 rallies with Santi. He was very impressive,” said Isakolu.
Isakolu’s schoolmate Konstan-tinos Valtetsiotis, from Greece, and one of the volunteers at DTLW, said teaching tennis to special needs children was a very enriching experience. “Nothing beats the joy of seeing them perform on the court,” he said.
Another volunteer, Indian Munira Rajkotwala, 17, from GEMS Wellington who set up the DTLW website and Facebook page said: “It is important for everyone to give something to the society and we are trying to do our bit.”
Scott Schaffner, DAA high school principal said: “We are proud of the work done by DTLW. We encourage students to nurture a culture of kindness and those associated with DTLW are doing just that.
Teacher Tim Tschumperlin said: “Having worked at six international schools and been involved with various community service projects, I can say with absolute certainty that the DTLW programme is one of the best community initiatives I have come across so far.”
