A NATIONAL coaching body has served up a provincial award to a local coach in recognition of his club and charity work.
Wesley O’Brien has been named Munster coach of the year by Tennis Coach Ireland.
Wesley introduced a coaching programme in Killaloe Ballina Tennis Club, trains visually impaired people to play tennis as part of Blind Tennis and has shown hundreds of refugees in various countries how to use a racquet during his “Hit and Hope” charity trips abroad.
In an interview with the Clare Champion, Wesley said this award was unexpected and hopes it will help him to secure new sponsors for his Blind Tennis initiative.
While Wesley has received funding from different Sports Partnerships and Vision Sports, he believes it is not sustainable to continue to rely on these sources in the future.
Recently, he travelled over to Wrexham to assist Marguerite Quinn, who competed in the United Kingdom Blind Tennis Championships against players who had more vision than her as there was no female B2 category.
Despite playing against people with more sight, she won four out of her six matches. Another Irish B1 player Stuart Haxell from Sligo also participated in these championships.
Last week, Wesley was appointed Irish Blind Tennis team manager, which will involve coaching his own players for the World Championship in Birmingham next August, the first time this competition will be held in about three years.
He will also be responsible for getting eight players on the Irish team together, booking accommodation, flights, funding and other logistics, which will be discussed during several meetings.
He hopes that Marguerite will be able to secure a place on the Irish team, having built up a wealth of experience in competitions.
On January 8, he will embark on his seventh charity tennis trip abroad to Nea Kavala Refugee Camp in Northern Greece following a similar venture in Bosnia last September.
The Nea Kavala migrant camp accommodates up to 1,200 and is the largest in the region.
He still has some money left over from previous fundraising such as raffling signed sporting memorabilia, which will help cover expenses involved in bringing out tennis rackets, balls and other equipment that he donates to the refugees in the camp before his return.
In a bid to secure more funding, he spoke to James Cluskey, former Irish tennis professional, who reached 151 in doubles and is the tennis coach for Sir Richard Branson, British billionaire and entrepreneur.
Mr Cluskey, who is currently in Necker Island, Mr Branson’s own personal island, has pledged to contact Wesley on his return from this assignment.
“Any money I raise covers expenses, I don’t use it for my own spending money. I love meeting the refugees and doing the work. I am looking forward to the trip to Greece and I have another trip lined up for Belgrade in Serbia in April.
“I will be in Poland this week visiting a friend. I also plan to visit a non-profit organisation in Wroclaw in Northern Poland to see if they would like to participate in a free coaching camp,” he said.
Last April, Wesley travelled to Istanbul in Turkey to work with an organisation called Qnushyo, which provided refuge and support for Syrian refugees.
Some of their centres had to close during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the provision of free tennis lessons provided a much needed boost that helped revitalise their activities.
Reflecting on the last 12 months, he is satisfied with what has been achieved thanks to his Blind Tennis and charity work.
“2022 has been a very busy year with the trips and the Blind Tennis, which has been successful. My father, Edward (78) has been a left leg amputee all his life. He got his first artificial leg in 1961 and had a wooden peg leg until last July when he got a new modern lightweight leg.
“That was a good part of the year as well. When he was two years of age, doctors had to cut off part of his leg below the knee. At the age of 16, doctors took a small piece above the knee to allow the peg leg to fit in properly.
“Getting a lightweight leg has been great for him. You could hear him coming before because the old three and a half kilo wooden leg was so heavy,” he said.
Next January, he is planning to hold another Blind Tennis taster session in Killaloe to encourage more players to participate in this initiative.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.