{"id":519802,"date":"2026-03-05T07:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519802\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T07:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:24:11","slug":"tennis-australias-wheelchair-team-honoured-with-uniqlo-spirit-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519802\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis Australia’s wheelchair team honoured with UNIQLO Spirit Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennis Australia\u2019s wheelchair tennis team have been awarded the 2025 UNIQLO Spirit Award, being recognised as a driving force in transforming wheelchair tennis on a local and international stage.<\/p>\n

The organisation has been considered a trailblazer in wheelchair tennis for more than 35 years, with several pioneering initiatives, including hosting the first integrated wheelchair Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open in 2002. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australian wheelchair tennis players have collectively amassed 28 major titles across all disciplines and age categories and the cohort is currently led by Greg Crump and Francois Vogelsberger, both coaches who have been individually commended by the ITF for their services to wheelchair tennis.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crump believes the award is a testament to the hard work the team has put into growing wheelchair tennis for nearly four decades. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the national federation to win an award like that in a small team, it\u2019s pretty impressive,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom grassroot level right through to the Grand Slams, no other federation has probably done it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cTo get recognised, you must obviously follow through and believe [the values]. Quite often we have the core values or our catchphrases on doors and our walls, but actually believe them and follow through with them, the proof is in the pudding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAny new staff member that comes in and all the players are definitely reminded of the people that came before them and did a lot of hard work to get to this level as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crump has been involved in the process from the beginning, helping shape both the impressive legacy and direction of wheelchair tennis in Australia.<\/p>\n

From volunteering at rehabilitation units in Melbourne\u2019s northeastern suburbs, to coaching some of Australia\u2019s highest-profile wheelchair players, the man colloquially known as \u2018Crumpy\u2019 has witnessed the sport\u2019s transformation firsthand. <\/p>\n

The progress made throughout this time has been fulfilling for the longtime coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ: Greg Crump honoured as ITF Wheelchair Coach of the Year<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s humbling, but when I first started, it really was bare bones,\u201d Crump said. \u201cIt was a \u2018beg, borrow, or steal\u2019 type of thing to make a tennis tournament happen: the courts, the venues, the officials, the sponsorship, that was very minimal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThen now you see it at world-class events, it\u2019s pretty rewarding. But also to see the whole pathway, there\u2019s not many people that actually get to see a sport evolve and grow over that period of time in their career.”<\/p>\n

Despite success on the global stage, Crump believes the increase in participation is the most positive change that has occurred during his time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

With a sound junior development program that currently sees seven Australians inside the boys\u2019 wheelchair top 50, the most of any country, Crump and his team are helping foster the next generation of wheelchair tennis stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE: Cool Crocs claim Greg Crump Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the growth of the sport, that\u2019s probably the biggest [difference in Australian wheelchair tennis today],\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone loves to get the trophies and the medals, but the amount of people that have actually taken up wheelchair tennis and played it at a recreational level, that\u2019s still the gold medal event right there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve made a change to someone\u2019s life. So more and more people have played the game and like in the able-bodied space, not everyone\u2019s going to be a champion, but we love the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tennis Australia\u2019s wheelchair tennis team have been awarded the 2025 UNIQLO Spirit Award, being recognised as a driving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,72820,18867],"class_list":["post-519802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-news-article","tag-wheelchair-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}