The Learn 2 Lead program is empowering young women to develop the skills, confidence, and knowledge to contribute to, and have an equal voice in, their local tennis communities.
Sydney, Australia, 25 July 2024 | Nadia Dimattina
Hayley Dyer is a former world champion karate athlete.
“I studied martial arts when I was three years old and continued until I was eight,” she said.
“I got the opportunity in 2018 to go to the World Martial Arts Championships, and I came home with the world title in Team fighting and a third in the world in individual fighting. Then the following year, I became Australian Champion for my age group.”
Hayley was reaching the peak of her martial arts career when she badly injured her ankle – forcing her into a moon boot.
“It was definitely challenging. I was just at the height of my career and I was close to getting a black belt,” she explained. “But for the black belt, you had to run, I think, six kilometres, and I obviously couldn’t do that.”
Hayley’s mum, Naomi Dyer, said: “It was really devastating for her because the level of pain that she was in was enormous to start with, but then to deal with such a big decision at such a young age as to whether to have surgery or to actually retire from something she’d been so passionate about, it was quite a challenge for her to get through.”
Hayley made the difficult decision to retire from martial arts at the end of 2022. Instead of giving up on sport entirely, she decided to pick up the racquet for the first time, and transitioned to tennis.
Her coach, John Thompson, said he hasn’t seen anything quite like it in his coaching career.
“I’ve never had anyone like Hayley start tennis. And honestly, she could not move at all in any way. She would just be stationary on a tennis court for a half an hour of tennis session to start with once a week. That’s now turned into her being on a tennis court three or four times a week with us and loving the sport, which is the most important part.” he said.
The 17-year-old from Sydney is one of the recent graduates from the NSW Learn 2 Lead Program.
The program, being rolled out nationally, aims to engage young women aged 14 to 18 years within the sport to build their life and leadership skills.
The program has helped Hayley overcome the heartbreak of an injury and consequential end to her karate career, allowing her to focus on her leadership skills and continue pursuing…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Tennis.com.au – Tennis Australia…