East Ridge Girls Tennis Coach to Represent U.S. in Wheelchair Tennis Event

Joe Rydberg, the girls tennis coach at East Ridge High School, will represent the U.S. as he takes the hard court in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 25 for the 2011 World Team Cup wheelchair tennis tournament.

Rydberg will be making his 10th appearance in the World Team Cup. He and his teammates will compete against more than 200 of the world’s top players from 30 different countries. Rydberg will be joined during the two-week competition by his longtime coach Dan James, of Oakdale.

“It’s very cool to have the opportunity to compete against the best in the world,” Rydberg said. “It’s an honor to play for our country as a team, because tennis is generally a very individual sport.”

When players don the red, white and blue, it takes the competition to a higher level, said James, the team’s head coach.

“Anytime you wear USA on your back, there is a different energy,” James said. “Now imagine 200 players wearing their country’s colors. It becomes a dog fight.”

Training for that fight takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but it also opens a lot of doors, creates lasting friendships and has been a ticket for Rydberg and James to travel the world.

The history between Rydberg and James goes back 19 years to the in St. Louis Park (which is currently ). It was James' first day volunteering as a wheelchair tennis coach and Rydberg’s second lesson as a player.

“When we started together, neither one of us knew anything about wheelchair tennis,” Rydberg said. “It’s been quite a journey.”

After graduating from college, James became a tennis pro and started to dabble in coaching, occasionally working with players in wheelchairs. On his first day coaching them, the players told James he needed to get into a wheelchair and test his skills from a different perspective.

“It was the most daunting and intimidating thing I have done,” the able-bodied tennis pro said. “But it was the best experience of my life. That moment taught me the difference in the sport firsthand. It taught me respect.”

Within two months, James said he “fell in love with the group of athletes and the sport.” As an aspiring coach, he also had the opportunity to meet and learn from one of the best wheelchair tennis players of all time, Randy Snow.

“He taught me the game and he taught me the value of the game,” James said. “He taught me how to coach and how to teach wheelchair tennis.”

When James started coaching, he was inspired by what he saw players with disabilities doing, but over time his perspective changed.

“We are inherently inspirational,” James said. “People remember the story about the guy or girl in the chair, not the person—the athlete. The important thing is to remember we are professional athletes first and inspirational stories second.”

 “I no longer see the wheelchairs,” he continued. “It became about the sport— teaching these athletes how to be the best in the world.”

Rydberg, and his World Team Cup teammates, are among the world’s elite.

Rydberg was injured when he was 13 months old and has been limited to walking with crutches or in a wheelchair ever since. When he was 15, Rydberg said he first learned of wheelchair tennis and thought he’d “give it a try.” He started practicing and playing in tournaments. And he got good.

In college, Rydberg played wheelchair basketball on a full scholarship at the University of Texas-Arlington, but later returned to the tennis court and eventually became the head coach of the girls tennis team at East Ridge.

“I went on to do different things over the years,” he said, “but I always came back to tennis and now I’m playing at the highest level.”

James has traveled to six continents for wheelchair tennis tournaments and vividly remembers how it felt to walk out in front of 110,000 screaming people during the 2000 Paralympics Games in Syndey, Australia, as well as the first time wheelchair tennis pros took the court during the U.S. Open.

“It was an honor just to be a part of events like that,” he said. “I have lifelong friends all over the world because of wheelchair tennis. This has been my ticket to meet people and see places all over the world.”

Rydberg too has traveled extensively as a tennis pro. He competed in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, won a gold medal in singles competition and a silver medal in doubles during the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and competed in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China, not to mention playing in nine previous World Team Cups across the globe.

“This sport has opened a lot of doors and allowed me to meet some friends along the way while traveling the world,” Rydberg said. “I have learned a lot.”

The duo has also seen the sport grow in numerous ways.

When James started coaching in 1992, there were about 30 tournaments played in three continents around the world. Today, there is a pro tour with 150 tournaments, $1.5 million in prize money and more than 300 people from 200 countries who compete in the World Team Cup.

“Over the span of my career, this sport has become more professional—and that professionalism is critical for growth,” James said. The sport has become faster with technological advances in the makeup of wheelchairs and rackets.

For example, the one main rule difference between the two games is that a wheelchair player has two bounces to return a shot.

“But today there are players serving at more than 100 mph from a wheelchair,” James said. “You’re not going to hit that on two bounces. Today, tennis is tennis. This sport is no joke. Winning is what it’s about at the elite level. It’s not about the chair—it’s about the athlete. It’s about excellence. And that is what it should be about.”

Heading into the World Team Cup, both James and Rydberg said the goal is for the veteran U.S. team to fight their way back into World Group No. 1.

“Two years ago, the US fell from the top group and we hope to climb back to the upper level,” James said. “Jon will be a big part of that.”