Montgomery's Dream Court wins national award, gets Today show spotlight

A homegrown Montgomery tennis program has been honored by the United States Tennis Association for its continuing work to serve special needs athletes through the pandemic.

The USTA named Dream Court the winner of its 2021 Adaptive Tennis Award for “continued excellence, dedication and service in tennis for an adaptive tennis community.” The award was presented by tennis legend Jim Courier recently during a segment about Dream Court on NBC’s Today show.

Founder and Executive Director Jessica Weyreuter told Courier said she was surprised by the growth of the program, which started with five participants and has now served more than 300. “It definitely surprised me, and it keeps surprising me,” she said. “… What surprised me the most is also the support we’re getting from the USTA, and the community, and from the people who are part of this program.”

Weyreuter was named a Montgomery Advertiser Community Hero in 2019 for her work building Dream Court to teach tennis and life skills to special needs children and adults. After the pandemic hit, she quit her job as director of the junior tennis program at Montgomery Country Club to focus on adapting Dream Court to virtual instruction.

Dream Court continued virtual sessions throughout 2020, hosting as many as 50 people at a time on zoom and breakout sessions with four athletes per coach. They also arranged “buddy day” sessions in which local tennis players could join one-on-one virtual workouts with Dream Court athletes while they get to know each other.

The program resumed in-person sessions earlier this year.

Weyreuter said USTA was Dream Court’s first sponsor and she’s grateful for the Adaptive Tennis Award. “The recognition just helps to reassure us that we’re doing the right thing and we’re on the right track,” she said. She also thanked Dream Court’s board members and urged more people to get involved as sponsors, volunteers or participants. “We are part of the community, and the community is part of us,” she said.

Dream Court’s spring season starts Feb. 13 at O’Connor Tennis Center. Wheelchair tennis practice will start at 6 p.m. each Wednesday beginning in February, though the location varies each week. Dream Court athletes will travel to a wheelchair tennis tournament in Baton Rouge, La., starting March 8, and Dream Court will hold a wheelchair tennis tournament in Montgomery starting April 9.

You can find out about Dream Court or learn how to get involved by going to dreamcourt.org or emailing dreamcourtinc@gmail.com.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brad Harper at bharper1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Montgomery Dream Court wins national USTA award, gets Today spotlight