With the Collaroy Tennis Club Wheelchair Championships taking place this weekend on Sunday 8th December, we’re taking this opportunity to profile an extraordinary Club member… a young lady born with cerebral palsy who has already excelled in everything she’s taken on and who has an amazing future ahead of her.
Isla Gillespie is 18 years old and our defending Club Wheelchair Champion. Born in England, her family moved to Australia 11 years ago. Together with her parents and older brother, Isla loves it here. She went to school in Collaroy and remembers walking past the tennis club when she was younger and thinking how beautiful its location was.
Isla only discovered by accident that she was eligible to use a wheelchair to play tennis. That was about 4 years ago when she went to watch her good friend Zara, who is vision impaired, play a tournament for those with disabilities. Evolve’s Paula Gibson Roy was there that day, along with T.A.’s NSW Wheelchair Tennis Development Coach, Steve Manley. They noticed Isla wearing a leg brace, cheering on her friend, and decided to have a chat with her. Isla hadn’t played tennis to that point, but Steve told her that anyone with a disability in the lower limbs is eligible to play in a chair. The spark was lit.
Isla is what’s called an ambulatory wheelchair player – meaning she can walk with the help of a brace, but is unable to play able-bodied tennis. Without the aid of a wheelchair, she has very little endurance.
After that fateful meeting, Paula invited Isla down to Collaroy to have a hit. In Isla’s own words, “I fell in love with tennis from my first time on court”. No doubt Paula had a lot to do with that. We hear similar stories all the time from other students of hers. Isla started playing regularly, taking time to master moving in a chair, until she decided to take it more seriously in early 2022. “I had no real expectations when I started playing”, says Isla. “I’m competitive by nature and just wanted to be as good as I could be.”
Isla’s mum, Catriona, tells a story about her daughter’s competitive streak. “She’s always had it”, says Catriona. “I remember once when she was about 4 and learning to swim with the aid of inflatable arm bands. It didn’t take her long to rip off those floaties and start surging up the pool! Once Isla sets her mind on something, she just goes for it!”
“Yeah, I guess I’ve always had that ‘can do’ attitude”, says Isla. “I’m a very positive person. In fact my nickname growing up was ‘Smiler’ because I always had a smile on my face. I really do think it’s my best quality.”
After arriving in Sydney, Isla kept up her swimming and within a year (now aged 8) was competing at State Level. But she didn’t enjoy the pressure of the ‘Ready, Set, Go’ start. So she moved on to Track and Field Athletics, mainly in the throwing disciplines of Shot Put, Discus and Javelin. In no time she was competing in the National Championships. “I even gave the 100 metre sprint a go”, says Isla with the hint of a smile, “… but it wasn’t my best discipline.”
When tennis came along, she loved the fact that in the beginning, everyone was pretty much on a level playing field, physically. “Tennis has so many benefits”, says Isla, “physically, socially and mentally. I love the fact that I can play the sport with my able-bodied friends. They just get once bounce to hit the ball to my two. It really is a fully inclusive sport. And it honestly calms me whenever I’m stressed. Tennis absolutely helped me get through the HSC. To be able to get out and have a hit between studying, just cleared my mind.”
However as Isla progressed to competition play, she quickly discovered that all the junior tournaments in Australia are ‘gender neutral’… which was fine when she was younger. But as she’s gown up, so too have her opponents, and even in wheelchairs, the upper body strength of male players gives them an advantage when competing against females. That’s when she learned to employ the thinking part of the game more. “I love the strategy involved in winning a tennis match. I found I could ‘out-think’ stronger opponents. Tennis gives you the chance to adapt so much more than other sports.”
While performing well in almost every event in which she played, Isla held a burning ambition to qualify to play at the US Open. “It’s always been a dream of mine to see New York, and I figured, if I could get there through tennis, that would be incredible.” So she set her mind and heart on qualifying for this year’s Open. She sought ranking points in all-female tournaments in South Africa. She entered two tournaments there… and won them both! Together with her results from other events in Australia, this put her over the line. She’d qualified for a Grand Slam!
Though our male contingent regularly makes a mark at this level, Isla is now the only Australian junior female player to have qualified for a Wheelchair Grand Slam event… and she won her way through to the Quarters at Flushing Meadows – another fantastic achievement.
“The experience was everything I could have imagined”, said Isla. “We were provided courtesy cars and drivers, just like the top players, there were camera crews everywhere filming us and the atmosphere at the matches was incredible. On the first day there, Daniil Medvedev walked right by me… seriously, the whole thing was just impossible to describe.”
Now 18, Isla has graduated from the Juniors and is competing in Open events, with separate draws for male and female players. At the just concluded National Titles, Isla mirrored her 2023 achievements… she was runner up in the Open Ladies Singles, losing only to top seed Hayley Slocombe, then teamed with Hayley to win the Open Ladies Doubles, 6-0, 6-0 in this year’s Final. Isla is a dual Australian Champion!
As a result of her exploits this year, Isla currently holds an ITF junior world ranking of 10 and is ranked 89 in the Open category.
“The Wheelchair Tennis circuit is just brilliant”, says Isla. “In fact, you get to mix with athletes with all sorts of disabilities and everyone is so supportive. It’s so cool to hear everyone’s individual stories and off-court, you’re mixing with friends who understand your situation. Everyone’s just striving to be the best version of themselves.”
While Isla has ticked off many of the items on her wish list, including becoming a National Titleholder and this year, a Grand Slam participant with a Top 10 world ranking, her next goal is to be part of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup – the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event. Equivalent to the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup, Isla wants to compete for Australia and help us become world team champions.
Then of course, there’s playing in her home Grand Slam at the A.O. and possibly representing Australia at the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032… but Isla isn’t looking too far ahead just yet. While she loves her tennis, Isla is an incredibly intelligent young woman, currently studying in Melbourne for a B.A., majoring in Politics and Law. Her true passion in life is Human Rights and she harbours a dream to fight discrimination and inequity, particularly as they apply to people with disabilities.
“By 2032, I will have well and truly completed my degree and graduated, and my passion to be a Human Rights advocate may by then supplant my desire to be a world ranked tennis player. There are so many discriminatory practices in everyday life that most people are simply too naive to realise even exist. I so want to fight to set these things right. So we’ll have to see what the future holds, but for now, I’m happy to keep trying to improve as a tennis player on the Aussie Wheelchair circuit.”
Makes you feel honored that Isla is a Collaroy member, right? Of course, her mum’s just a little bit chuffed too. “I’m a very proud mum”, says Catriona. “Both my children are exceptional. And seriously, given the start she had, Isla has already achieved so much in her young life. She’s just the best.”
Though now living in Melbourne to complete her degree and because the national training hub for wheelchair tennis is in that city, on Sunday December 8, Isla will be back in Sydney to defend her Club Championship. “I love Collaroy”, she says. “The new Court 4 is beautiful and Collaroy members always seem to be having so much fun. The vibe there is always chilled and friendly and of course, Paula is the best. Collaroy will always feel like home to me.”
This year, representing Collaroy Tennis Club, Isla was a finalist in the Junior Sportsperson with a Disability category at the Tennis NSW Awards (along with fellow club member Rafferty Stevens).
Asked about her chances in this year’s Championships, Isla said it may be harder to win the title this time around. “I think Paula has a couple of new students who could make life hard for me – two young guys originally from New Zealand who have played wheelchair basketball and so are very strong physically. They’re gun tennis players too. But you can count on one thing… I’ll be out there giving it my absolute best!”
There’s simply no doubting that Isla. You’re a very special human being – truly, an out-and-out inspiration and we couldn’t be any more proud that, even though you’re now living interstate, you still choose to remain a member of our tennis club.
Good luck in the tourney… and good luck with everything that lies ahead in what we know will continue to be a spectacular life.
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