The team is led by men’s tennis team coach Gene Orlando, who often brings both his own children and a tennis player to help out at each practice.

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to compete and be active,” he said, adding two to six players attend each week. “This is just one way I can, as a coach, give back to others with the game of tennis.”

Vandenberg has been volunteering with wheelchair tennis groups since 2003, working with players affected by a variety of medical disorders including paraplegia and cystic fibrosis.

“It is very challenging,” Vandenberg said. “I’ve actually spent over 100 hours in a wheelchair just to get a feel for it.”

Vandenberg said while able-bodied players can stop and change directions quickly, players in wheelchairs move in more of a figure-eight motion.

Katie Frayer’s mother, Beth Frayer, said she initially brought her daughter to the club three years ago in search of an exercise that would help her with her upper body strength, but she found much more.

“It’s been great because the other adults here have been really good role models for her because it helps her see where she can be in the future,” she said.

Former MSU professor Jake Foglio, who plays tennis at the facility weekly, said he’s noticed strides in Frayer’s skills.

“This young woman, she could hardly move (before),” he said. “Now, she’s just whipping it.”

Orlando said he’s proud of his players’ progress and hopes to see more on-the-court growth.

“We’re really making a push here to make it bigger and have one of the premier programs in Michigan,” he said.