Brad Alan Parks (born April 1, 1957) is an American wheelchair tennis player who co-invented wheelchair tennis with Jeff Minnebraker. During the Uniqlo Wheelchair Tennis Tour in the 1990s, Parks won five singles and seven doubles titles during Championship Series events. During the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

, Parks reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles and won gold with

Randy Snow Randy Snow (May 24, 1959 – November 19, 2009) was the first Paralympic Games, Paralympian to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the first paralympian to win medals in three different sports: track, basketball and tennis.Cindy S ...

in the men's doubles. At the 1994 Wheelchair Tennis Masters, Parks also reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles. As an executive, Parks co-founded the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis in 1980 before becoming the first president of the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation in 1988. Parks became part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010 and was the 2016 Philippe Chatrier Award recipient from the International Tennis Federation.

Life and career

Parks was born in Orange, California. He attended a dental program at the University of Utah. At the age of 18, he participated at a

freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...

competition in Park City, Utah. While participating, Parks performed a special skilled

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

which he then went of the ramp from the competition. He was supposed to land on his skis, but then landing on his back in an icebound surface causing him in an

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

. With being injured, Parks was paralyzed from his vertebrate anatomy

hip In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region is ...

s. He then created a sport for disabled people with wheelchairs, in which Parks had help from tennis player, Jeff Minnebraker, in 1977. Parks creation was wheelchair tennis, in which he thought of the idea in the hospital with his injury. With Minnebraker, they've both created the rules for wheelchair tennis. As a Uniqlo Wheelchair Tennis Tour player during the 1990s, Parks won five singles and seven doubles titles at Championship Series events. He also reached the quarterfinals at the men's singles event during the 1994 Wheelchair Tennis Masters. Park competed at the

, in the first wheelchair tennis competition at the

Paralympics Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. During his events, Parks reach the quarterfinals in the men's singles. He was awarded the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

with

in the

men's doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles ...

event. Parks co-founded the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis with Dave Saltz in 1980. He then was the first initialed president of the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation, in 1988. With his creation, the United States Tennis Association created an award called "The Brad Parks Award", in 2002. He became honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, being placed on the contributor category, in 2010. In 2016, Parks was the recipient of the Philippe Chatrier Award by the International Tennis Federation. Apart from tennis, Park won medals in wheelchair racing at the World Disabled Olympics and the National Wheelchair Olympics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Brad 1957 births Living people People from Orange, California Sportspeople from Orange, California People with paraplegia American male tennis players International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Wheelchair tennis players at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair tennis University of Utah alumni Tennis executives Tennis people from California