This past Thursday afternoon found tennis pro Sue Webb doing what she often does at the Lookout Mountain Club - giving lessons to a child, in this case 11-year-old Lucy Heald, who's in the fourth grade at Fairyland Elementary School.
Time and again, Webb would hit the fuzzy yellow ball toward Heald. Time and time again, Heald would clutch her racket in her right hand, swing her right arm as powerfully as she could and rip the ball back with great accuracy and remarkable velocity.
Then she'd briefly drop her racquet into her lap, furiously move the wheels on her youth tennis wheelchair with both hands and prepare to hit the next shot Webb returned to her.
"I really like tennis," Lucy said during a water break. "It's fun to play with other people. And this wheelchair is a lot easier to push than my other one."
If you're ever asked to nominate a couple for parents of the year - or decade, for that matter - you couldn't do much better than Cathy and Daryl Heald.
Lucy is the third youngest of four children the Healds have adopted from China over the past 13 years as their five biological children - ages 20 to 30 - have become adults. All four have physical disabilities, ranging from clubfoot (Lee Lee, a 15-year-old freshman at Girls Preparatory School), to spina bifida (Lucy and 12-year-old Bella, a rising sixth grader at Chattanooga Christian School), to having both legs amputated above the knees (8-year-old Charlie, also a Fairyland student).
"Cathy and Daryl are amazing people," Webb said. "They have such good hearts. Just a special family."
To watch Lucy navigate a tennis court in her wheelchair, or Charlie chase the tennis balls hit by both Lucy and Webb on his running blades, or Bella crush forehands with her left arm is certainly an amazing experience. Especially because their smiles never leave their faces while competing.
Next Saturday at Manker Patten Tennis Club, anyone younger than 18 who would like to learn more about playing wheelchair tennis is invited to participate in a clinic from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. that will be conducted by the United States Tennis Association, sponsored by the Amerigroup Foundation and hosted by SPARC (Sports, Arts and Recreation of Chattanooga).
"We'll have sports wheelchairs, tennis rackets and other equipment for them, and all of it is free for them to use while they're here," SPARC president Jerry Hightower said. "They'll also have free box lunches. Any young person under the age of 18 is welcome, but we encourage them to register in advance (by Thursday, May 20, if possible) at sparc@sparctn.org, or by calling 423-488-8604."
In addition to that, a parent or legal guardian of each participating youth must register in advance and sign Move United liability waiver forms. As a safeguard against COVID-19, face masks are recommended during the sign-in process, though not during exercise.
"The USTA hopes to have more of these throughout the region," Hightower said. "There have already been clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham, but this is the first one in Chattanooga."
Webb is excited to soak up all the information she can about coaching wheelchair tennis. Lucy is the first such athlete she's worked with, having taken over her workouts a little more than two months ago when her original coach, Meredith Brooks, had to step aside for maternity leave.
"I've been watching some videos, learning what I can," Webb said. "I'm really looking forward to the clinic. I want to learn more. It should help me be a better coach to her."
Both Brooks and Webb should be proud of the players Bella and Lucy have already become. To watch Bella play without the need of a wheelchair, braces or crutches is to be surprised she has spina bifida. And to watch Lucy so easily cover the court in the $2,500 sports wheelchair donated to her by the Civitan Club is to wonder if we're not watching a future Paralympian.
"It's great to see her hit the ball just like anybody else," Webb said of Lucy after Thursday's workout. "She hit three serves in a row today. When she keeps that wheelchair moving, she can really play."
If there is a special energy and toughness to Lucy, it may come from Charlie, though the two aren't biological siblings.
Not long ago, while participating in a mile run through downtown, Charlie lost his balance at the starting line and face-planted. Picking himself off the pavement, he was covered in blood and dirt, and most people believed his race was done before it began.
Beyond that, Lucy isn't just a wheelchair tennis player. She's a goalie on her soccer team, playing the sport with leg braces and crutches. She's also been a member of a wheelchair basketball team.
"She even wrote a paper for school about a wheelchair tennis player," Webb said. "She really loves the sport."
There is the love of sport for sport's sake, for the joy of exercise and competition and fellowship. Then there is the love of sport for victory, often at the cost of sportsmanship, perspective and fair play.
Count the Heald clan among the former.
Or as Bella said when asked what she loved about tennis: "It's not about competing. It's about having fun, no matter who wins."
Mark WiedmerContact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.