The Journey of Army Veteran, Wheelchair Tennis Player and Coach Paul Walker

That's my company command picture from 1994, Captain Paul Walker, company commander of Charlie Company, 17th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas. I was 30 years old there, and that was around April, when I took command.

I had a mentor who had a very full, successful career as an army officer, and I thought, "Wow, that's what I need to be doing." It was an incredibly active lifestyle with purpose and service, and I've always had a patriotic nature. I was commissioned in 1988 at Officer Candidate School, Fort Benning, Georgia.

My first duty assignment was in Germany at the end of the Cold War and I deployed to Operation Desert Storm from there as well. I believe I had found my calling in life, so in a lot of ways, this is kind of where the story starts.

This picture was taken during a field training exercise at Fort Hood. This type of training would be equivalent to practice matches in tennis. Some of these exercises are high intensity, others less so. Based on this picture and my seemingly laid-back look, I’d say it was less so.

I think one of the great lessons I learned in the army was establishing and trying to maintain high standards in training. Good coaches have high standards and teach players to rise to those standards to achieve their best results. Another correlation between military leadership and coaching is the establishment of trust between a leader and their soldiers and coaches and their players.

My lieutenants, first sergeant and I are standing tall and looking good in our dress blues. The first sergeant was the highest-ranking noncommissioned officer in the company and really my right-hand man. The other four guys were my lieutenants and platoon leaders in Charlie Company.

That was our leadership team. We were a group of highly dedicated, highly motivated men. We all believed in the mission to serve this country and do good things. Some stayed in the military and had really good careers, some got out, and I've stayed in touch with a couple of them all these years later. They represent the best of the best and I'm proud to have been associated with that group.

I was first introduced to wheelchair tennis at a camp at Flushing Meadows in June of 1997 through the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. Quite frankly, I didn't even know wheelchair tennis existed, but I had played tennis growing up, and I started thinking, "Could I hit tennis balls with Vincent or Dan again?" Could I go back out and play with some of the friends I'd played with before my injury?

The camp was led by Randy Snow, a true legend in wheelchair tennis, and when I saw the sport, I thought, "Yeah, this is it." That picture is from my first tournament in Albany, New York, with Eric Pierce, one of the first guys I started hitting with. I was playing in my everyday wheelchair. Basically, bungee cord the feet and go to work. But I couldn't have been happier.

Now I'm in an actual tennis chair (my first Quickie), one of those three-wheelers we used back then. This was at the Wheelchair US Open in Irvine, California, and I was still coming up through the pipeline, playing in the B division, which I won that year.

You can see the EPVA shirt, and that means a lot to me. They did a really nice job of sponsoring athletes and helping us get to tournaments. When you think about it, a veterans organization put a veteran on a path that really formed a career. I probably don't stop and think about that enough. I never anticipated where all this would take me, but I'm forever grateful.

By now I had moved up the ranks and become an Open player and an internationally ranked wheelchair tennis player. I ultimately reached No. 31 in the world in 2005.

This is Arthur Ashe Stadium. I believe this was at the tournament created in memory of Jana Hunsaker, who had been instrumental in building the wheelchair program at the National Tennis Center. So that picture represents another step in the journey, going from a guy who didn't even know wheelchair tennis existed to playing internationally and in a venue as exalted as Arthur Ashe Stadium.

My coaching career started here. Dennis Mason, a Vietnam veteran, double amputee and one of the best humans I have known, was a teacher at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland. We had played some wheelchair tennis together and one day he called and asked if I'd be interested in coaching the girls tennis team. I thought about it and said, "Yeah, you know what? I think I would really enjoy that."

I ended up coaching high school tennis for 13 years. It’s where I cut my teeth as a coach and started immersing myself in the world of coaching while I was still playing competitively. At the time I think there was something unique about a guy in a wheelchair coaching able-bodied high school players. We had a lot of success, won some championships, but my greatest recollection from those years was coaching a bunch of really wonderful young ladies.

I got to coach alongside the legend Randy Snow. He was one of the most inspiring guys I have ever met and really impacted my desire to be a coach! He started me on my wheelchair tennis journey and later became a good friend. He passed away in 2009, but his contributions to our sport endure. We’re in Austin here. Man, that Texas sunset was something to behold!

Somewhere along the way I started coaching a great group of USTA league ladies here in Lakeland. They affectionately labeled themselves the Paul Walker Tennis Association, and I actually formed the PWTA, LLC (which I still use to this day). It began with a couple of lessons, then a team clinic, and we ended up staying together for close to 10 years. They were a very close group of friends, and my wife Terri played on the team as well.

This was at their 5.5 Combo championship, and it's just one of my all-time favorite pictures. Friday morning clinics, private lessons, a lot of tennis and a ton of fun. I cherish the memories of time spent with the OG PWTA! It was another completely different space in tennis that I was fortunate to operate in.

The blonde kid on the far right is Casey Ratzlaff, who is currently our No. 1 ranked men's player, and in the middle is Chris Herman, who for a time was our No. 1 ranked junior boy and is now a broker with Morgan Stanley. Look right behind Chris. Can you tell who that is? It's Carlos Alcaraz!

This was at the opening ceremony for the Les Petite A’s tournament in Tarbes, France. The ITF also held the wheelchair year-end Junior Masters tournament there. Casey sent me this picture years later and pointed Carlos out. None of us could have known he’d turn out to be…him! He would have been about 13 or 14, just a kid. The irony of him standing back there in the picture is pretty funny now.

I made a number of trips over the years, and this was an ITF Development Fund trip to Guatemala. I also visited Mexico, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica. What an amazing opportunity to promote and help develop wheelchair tennis programs in countries around the world.

On this particular day I was speaking with college students studying to become physical and occupational therapists. The message was about the impact adaptive sports can have on somebody with a physical disability, and the role those therapists can play in helping lead a person back toward an active life and toward something they can really enjoy. I always liked this picture because those students were so engaged and I could see them envisioning themselves in their careers and how they might make a difference in the world.

I was coaching our U.S. wheelchair tennis team at the Invictus Games, and Chase, one of our players, and I were just strolling along one day when Prince Harry came walking right at us.

So we basically said, "Hey, how about a pic?" He stopped, we chatted for a few minutes and we got a great picture. The Invictus Games were created to support wounded and disabled servicemen and women through participation and competition in adaptive sports. So again, particularly for Veterans Day, there's a natural connection there between military service and the world of sport.

A little US Open broadcasting. That's Steve Goldstein, who's a phenomenal broadcaster and the voice of the Florida Panthers. I believe I started doing the tennis broadcasting around 2017, and it has always been very rewarding.

I've been fortunate to do some broadcasting at the US Open, the Paralympics in France and some ITF year-end events. It's just another facet of the world of tennis that I've been lucky enough to be part of.

The two girls right next to me, Lorena from Spain and Selin from Norway, came into the program as freshmen when I first started coaching the Florida Southern team, so they became my first four-year graduates.

When they were graduating, they went to the athletic department and created what became the Support of Excellence Award. Their idea was to recognize somebody who puts energy and passion into supporting Florida Southern athletics. It started as this incredibly sweet gesture from those players to me, but the award continues to be presented annually. I'm so proud of those girls, and was truly touched by their thoughtfulness.

The Warrior Games in Tampa. I was asked to be the tournament director for the Wheelchair Tennis competition at the University of South Florida. So I grabbed three incredible people to help me: Paralympian Karen Korb, USTA Director of Wheelchair Tennis and Head Coach Jason Harnett and Florida Southern Women’s Tennis Head Coach Trish Riddle. "Hey team, you're going to help me run this amazing event."

I really like this picture, especially as we celebrate Veterans Day. You can see the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard flags in the background. The Warrior Games bring together injured servicemen and women to compete in adaptive sports, and remind them of the athletic spirit that lives within every warrior. Connecting military service and the sport I love meant an awful lot to me.

I'm one of the USTA faculty coaches, and this was at a USTA high performance regional camp in Las Vegas. These camps typically bring together high-performing young players between the ages of 11-14, along with coaches working on every part of their development.

I've been really honored to work alongside some tremendous people in this space. You've got great tennis coaches, strength and conditioning experts, mental skills professionals, all working together to help these kids grow as players and young adults. That's a really talented group of coaches in that picture. I learn so much from watching and listening to other great coaches!

I became a national coach for wheelchair tennis in 2005, and over the years I believe I captained 17 World Team Cup teams. The majority of those were with our women's team. This was one of those years in Portugal, where the team won a bronze medal.

That's Dana Mathewson, Emmy Kaiser and  Shelby Baron, all three Paralympians and the cornerstone for the women’s team for many years. I'd known those players since they were juniors and watched them become strong players, but more so, accomplished, strong women! Those relationships are a big part of what coaching has been about for me.

I was honored to be named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year. I've spent more than a decade now coaching the Florida Southern women's team, and the collegiate space has truly become my happy place.

There's just great energy in collegiate tennis. The level of play is very good, we compete in the premier Division II conferences in the country and we've been a top 10 program nationally. What I'm most proud of is what we've created culturally at Florida Southern. Come for the tennis, leave better prepared for the world. I want to believe that is the impact coaches can have on players.

We’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of wheelchair tennis this year, and World Tennis created a Wheelchair Tennis Hall of Champions to recognize people who have made significant contributions as players, coaches and contributors.

At the US Open, those of us from the United States who were inducted into the inaugural class were recognized at a ceremony in the Player Garden. That's David Haggerty, the president of World Tennis and former president of the USTA. To be there 29 years after I first discovered this sport, being recognized as part of its first 50 years,was a very humbling honor.