For Laurence Zalmanowitz, there’s no place he’d rather be. With more than 3,000 square feet to work with, it’s a spot where he can shut out the rest of the world and let his competitive spirit emerge.
“I find that it can be an escape, because I know when I’m on the court I can forget about what’s happening at school, or what’s going on in my life, and completely zone out and just focus on tennis,” he says. “I train hard and I work hard. That’s why I enjoy it.”
The 24-year-old Western Master of Education (Counselling Psychology) student, coming off a three-year tennis scholarship at the University of Arizona, is ranked 234th in the world – seventh in Canada – by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). He was a 2002 Canadian World Team Cup member, an ITF Jr. North American champion, ITF World Cup semi-finalist and U.S. Open Mixed Doubles finalist.
And Zalmanowitz has only been playing competitive wheelchair tennis for 11 years.
“Although I really enjoyed my time in the (United) States – it’s gorgeous and I have a lot of friends there – I missed Canada. I like it here,” he says.
He searched at schools across Canada with an eye on being able to train.
“One of the national team coaches lives just a few hours away in St. Catharines, and I knew there was a bubble here. I knew about campus because my sister did her masters at Western.” Not only did Jana graduate from Western, Zalmanowitz shares the program with his cousin Sharla, just one year ahead.
Zalmanowitz’s need for a wheelchair didn’t come until age 11. He was diagnosed at nine with a neuromuscular disorder called dystonia, which can cause involuntary muscle spasms.
“It can be progressive and I guess it was in my case. When I was diagnosed it was only affecting the lower part of my right leg,” he says. “And then around 11 it spread and then affected my entire right leg, my lower left and my right arm and hand as well.”
Born with a spirited nature, Zalmanowitz wasn’t about to let his disorder control his life or his destiny.
“I had the bad times, for sure. I don’t think you can imagine anyone who has gone through something where you wake up the next morning and all of a sudden you’ve lost your ability to walk. You’re obviously going to be questioning that,” he says. “You do feel sorry for yourself a bit, and I think that’s fine. However, it’s only going to help you so much to dwell on that and it seemed like a silly way of living, so I found that I needed to continue living life; let’s see what do I need to do in order to maintain mobility and be happy.”
In fact, Zalmanowitz says he’s much better now than before.
“I’m actually better now than when I was 12,” he says. “I think it’s a combination of a few things. It’s the fact that I didn’t stop doing things. I was active and playing sports before I started using a wheelchair and I continued with that. You find a good balance of what treatments are going to work for you and kept active.”
Growing up in Edmonton, sports were always part of his life. As far as wheelchair sports, he gave sledge hockey and basketball a shot. With the influence of his grandfather, Zalmanowitz recalls having a racquet in his hand at three, which likely pushed him toward focusing on his tennis game.
While there wasn’t much in and around Alberta for wheelchair tennis, he began playing competitively in tournaments in B.C. Just months after taking up tennis, Zalmanowitz found himself representing Alberta at the Western Canada Games – at 13 years old.
As his skills progressed, he found himself at more ITF tournament, even heading the United States to compete in places like Florida, Arizona, Denver and Lake Tahoe. He even served it up in France and Italy.
It was in the U.S. where Zalmanowitz caught the eye of college recruiters, who would eventually offer him a scholarship to play for the University of Arizona wheelchair tennis team, one of the best in the nation.
So what’s it like to be recruited by a major U.S. university?
“It’s cool,” admits Zalmanowitz. “It’s flattering, of course, and I saw it as an opportunity to further my development. That was a big three years. The mindset for me when I was to Arizona was that I love tennis, but education is number one. I’m really driven that way, so the goal there was to be even more motivated to get my school work done, because if I don’t get it done, it’s less time I’ll get on the court.”
Zalmanowitz has that same mentality at Western. While the workload for his master’s is tough, he’s now starting to get into a routine and able to get on the court more regularly. He knows he won’t be able to compete in tournaments during the school year, but admits if the opportunity arises he’ll take it.
While his No. 1 focus is of course his education – which he hopes to be in the area of sports psychology – he plans to keep the spotlight on his tennis game, which he says can always be improved.
“I think I’m constantly learning in trying to expand on my game. I know where my strengths are and I know where my weaknesses are, so make it so those weaknesses aren’t weaknesses any more,” says Zalmanowitz. “You can also learn how to utilize your strengths and make them even better, whether it’s changing how you serve or having a few different types of serves in your arsenal to use to keep your opponent guessing. I always consider it a work in progress.”