Howard Myers is a lawyer in Wisconsin who has been playing tennis for over 50 years. He has taught tennis to inner city children for many years and is active with the Wisconsin Tennis Association. Myers, observing how important tennis was to a Deaf tennis player, suggested that a tennis program be offered to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children living in the Manitowoc area. Myers then approached the Wisconsin Tennis Association and received limited funding from them and the Midwest section of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), for over 18 Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, ages 7-17, who attended a basic tennis program designed by Myers twice a week during the summer of 1999.  With the success of the Manitowoc program, Myers approached the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan Wisconsin, offering to conduct clinics for the students. Under the umbrella of the Wisconsin Tennis Association and the Midwest section of the USTA over 150 children, ages 6-18, were also introduced to tennis in day clinics.

The interest of the students encouraged Myers and he approached the director of the Wisconsin Lions Camp and suggested that a similar program be offered to approximately 400 Deaf and Hard of Hearing children who would be attending the camp during the following summer. The idea was accepted and for three weeks during the summer with a staff of five instructors, some of them volunteers, a full-fledged tennis program was provided to Deaf and Hard of hearing children ages 6 to 17. The Wisconsin Tennis Association provided a limited financial grant for this program. Following this experience four tennis clinics for Deaf and hard of hearing children was conducted in the Milwaukee area with help from the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Brookfield, the Waukesha Tennis Club and the Wisconsin Tennis Association. In Myers’ opinion tennis has given many of these children new found confidence, adding to their self es teem, fun and an opportunity to socialize and interact with other children. Howard Myers can be reached at 6243 N. Berkeley Blvd., Whitefish Bay, WI 53217, by phone at 414-962-0565 or e- mail to [email protected].