Editorial Team

IBTA is pleased to announce that the 2024 World Championships will be hosted by Italy. FISPIC, the Italian Paralympic Federation for the Visually Impaired, has been selected to organise this year’s championships. The event will take place in Lignano Sabbiadoro located 95 km (59 miles) from Venice airport. The event dates are from 25-29 September with classification planned for the 23rd and 24th. The official hotel for the championships is the Bella Italia Efa Village Sport & Family in Lignano Sabbiadoro. Congratulations to the FISPIC team! Further information about the event and registration to follow.

World Blindness Awareness Month is an opportunity to pay tribute to the accomplishments of people who are blind or have low vision and to increase public knowledge about the resources and services available for people experiencing vision loss. IBTA would like to thank all our colleagues involved in developing and promoting our sport worldwide. Below are some of the initiatives that were organized to promote our sport throughout the month. Luxembourg https://www.rtl.lu/sport/news/a/2129303.html Argentina https://www.facebook.com/groups/ibtatennis/permalink/990315138935321/ https://telenueve.elnueve.com.ar/mediodia/27817-la-conmovedora-historia-de-roberto-rivas-de-campeon-de-automovilismo-tenista-ciego India https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/wellbeing/soundball-the-tennis-game-breaking-stereotypes-about-the-blind-in-india-1.1090082 Germany https://www.facebook.com/BlindentennisDeutschland/posts/810453751090439 Lithuania https://www.ziniuradijas.lt/laidos/labas-milda/ar-gyvenime-tikrai-nera-nieko-neimanomo Peru https://fb.watch/n-HW_pzB5P/ Italy https://www.facebook.com/groups/1359388731668727/permalink/1378369066437360/?mibextid=oMANbw

Vodafone, the Official Connectivity Partner of Wimbledon,is piloting new 5G-powered GiveVision headsets on both Centre Court and No. 1 Court at The Championships this year. GiveVision enhances the remaining sight of people with low vision, allowing them to follow live events and enjoy the onsite experience with friends and family. Wimbledon is the first Grand Slam event pioneering assistive technology with Virtual Reality (VR) that allows visually impaired fans to watch live tennis like never before. More organisations are investing in purpose-driven innovation to deliver significant benefits to their customers providing an inclusive experience and culture.  Find out more about this great initiative on: https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2023-07-06/vodafone_5g_gives_visually_impaired_tennis_fans_worldfirst_experience.html

Blind and Visually Impaired Tennis (BVI) was featured at the USTA 2023 Diverse Coaches Development Summit in Orlando, Florida. The summit, held at the USTA National Campus, is a gathering of leaders, influencers, and advocates committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in our sport. The aim was to engage more female coaches, target underrepresented groups and help underserved communities. The USTA focused on attracting and engaging diverse providers by developing more certified tennis coaches, community coaches & coach developers. The event also provided on-court Blind Tennis workshops led by David Dilettuso (USBTA) and Samir Mahir (IBTA). Over 70 coaches from all over the United States attended the 2023 summit.

Follow all the action and listen to play-by-play coverage on Radio Roland-Garros. The official radio of the tournament is streamed in English on www.rolandgarros.com and on the RG app. It features various commentators covering live matches and behind the scenes stories. You can hear what’s happening at the press conferences, listen to special guests and enjoy the Roland Garros talk-show. Credit: ©Amélie Laurin / FFT Listen to Radio Roland-Garros in English The FFT and its partner, Orange, are also implementing a new system for following the matches, Sound for All by Orange, an immersive audio tool that is easy to access and offers high-quality sound. It records all the different sounds to recreate the atmosphere on the court, with the addition of commentary, in French this year, and stereophonic (“left-right”) features, via an audio broadcasting system that is accessible using headphones and a smartphone. Originally designed for visually impaired tennis fans, it is also available for everyone to enjoy an immersive experience. Check out Sound for All

Listen to IBTA’s President, Samir Mahir, chat with Eyes Free Sports host, Greg Lindberg about how he became involved in Blind and Low Vision Tennis, the game itself, and IBTA’s work around the world:   https://eyesfreesports.podbean.com/e/the-eyes-free-sports-podcast-ep-85-hitting-the-court-to-take-a-swing-at-blind-tennis-with-the-international-blind-tennis-association-ibta/

Faced with a limited entry of just 8 players, from different sight categories and with levels ranging from international to novice, it was always going to be a challenge for IBTA international referee, Martin Etheridge, to strike the right balance. A packed schedule of 22 matches was played across the day in the USTA National Campus indoor facility in Orlando, Florida. Each court had volunteers to collect and feed the balls and an umpire and this added to the overall competition experience of the players. The two B1s – Maggie and Nancy – played evenly balanced matches between themselves, both of which finished 7-5. They then played a doubles match together with a sighted player and this new format was very well received. The remaining 6 players were split into two groups based on experience. Each played a standard one set match to 6 with everyone in their group, together with those in the other as well as with sighted volunteers. Despite the low numbers of players, everyone was able to play between 5 and 7 matches and this was well received. Paul Ryb from the UK commented, “Everyone got to play a phenomenal amount of match play and truly experience what it is like to compete. I believe there was significant improvement in the B1s game through the day and matches. I too revelled in being able to play so many games”. He added that running a tournament alongside a conference was “an excellent way to teach the game to a new audience and I hope the format is replicated in other countries by the tennis federations. The more events like this the more chance we have of growing the sport”. Maggie,… Read More »First US Blind & Low Vision Tennis Tournament in Full Swing

Australian Open 2023 To Host The First-Ever All Abilities Day IncludingBlind Tennis. Australian Open 2023 To Host The First-Ever All Abilities Day IncludingBlind Tennis. Australian Open 2023 To Host The First-Ever All Abilities Day IncludingBlind Tennis. Australian Open 2023 will organise the first-ever All Abilities Day on Tuesday 24 January and host the first adults’ blind and visually impaired tennis exhibition at a Grand Slam event. Several juniors’ blind tennis exhibitions have been featured at the Australian Open the past few years. All Abilities Day is about acknowledging the many inclusive formats of adaptive tennis. This event will include on-court opportunities for children and adults from Tennis Australia’s disability pathways. On December 14th, Australian blind and visually impaired tennis players, Adam Fayad and Robert Fletcher, attended the launch of All Abilities Day. They were in the company of other Australian adaptive tennis players and former world No.1 quad wheelchair player and 2022 Australian of The Year, Dylan Alcott. Please click here for more information on All Abilities Day at the Australian Open 2023.

The International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA) announced today that Samir Mahir has been elected President at the annual general meeting held on the 27th November 2022. “Sport brings people together through active and healthy lifestyles worldwide.  For people who are blind or have low vision, tennis is about their abilities instead of their disabilities. Blind tennis not only enhances physical and mental health, but it’s critical for social connection and independence.” said Mahir. Mahir, a former executive with Tennis Australia and Vision Australia, advises sports organisations on the development of adaptive programs and digital inclusion. He was the first National Coach for the Australian Blind Tennis Team, serving in that role for 5 years. Mahir, who is originally from Morocco, currently lives in the USA. According to Mahir, “IBTA greatly benefited from the contributions of our immediate past president Maurice Gleeson, who steered us through the challenging COVID-19 pandemic. On behalf of IBTA, I would also like to recognise our past president the late Gaetan Li, who rallied support for blind tennis during an early period of growth. I’m proud to pick up the baton from them and look forward to working closely with our outstanding executive committee to deliver on the IBTA’s strategic goals.” Moving forward, IBTA will focus on building key partnerships, supporting players and volunteers, and promoting greater diversity and inclusion. The following members were elected to serve on the Executive Committee. President: Samir Mahir (USA) Secretary: Anita Deb (UK) Head of Technical / Treasurer: Martin Etheridge (UK) Head of Medical and Research: Satoshi Yokota (Japan) Head of PR and Marketing: Dana Costa (USA) Click here to learn more about the IBTA Executive Committee

Great turnout at the 2022 blind and visually impaired tennis tournament in Singapore that was held the weekend of 26-27 November. The successful event was organised and co-hosted by Soundball Singapore and SportCares. Mr. Marcus Tan, Chief of Sport Development Group at Sport Singapore, gave out prizes. Congratulations to all the winners and participants!