National High-Performance Program

National High-Performance Program

Tennis Canada’s Wheelchair Tennis Whole Player Development Pathway is a holistic approach designed to develop people and players through each stage of the pathway. The National High Performance Program (NHPP) focuses on the Podium Pathway which encompasses stages 6 and 7: Performance and Life as a Pro. 

The pathway stages are illustrated below and the entire document will be available on the Tennis Canada web site later this year.

Figure 1:

The Wheelchair
Whole Player Development Pathway

The NHPP is one component of the pathway and is designed for athletes who are on track to meet Tennis Canada’s, Sport Canada’s, and Own the Podium’s performance and podium objectives in 2025 and beyond. The overall objectives include:

• Paralympic and ParapanAm podium results
• Top 16 ITF singles world rankings
• Targeted World Team Cup results
• A pool of next gen athletes

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NHPP: Streams and Performance Indicators

The NHPP is geared to athletes moving through the high performance pathway and is divided into two streams: Podium and Performance.

The Podium Stream is divided into three levels: Gold, Silver, Bronze

The Performance Stream is divided into five levels: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Junior Transition to Pro and Junior

The pathway, and associated performance indicators, will be reviewed annually to ensure the dynamic nature of the sport is captured. To be eligible for consideration for the NHPP an athlete must attain a minimum ITF singles ranking by October 31, 2024, as per Figure 2 below:

Figure 2:

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National Team Players

Did you know that our National High-Performance players are among the best players in the world? They have represented Canada at major international events, such as Paralympic and Parapan Am Games as well as World Team Cup. All the national team members play 10 to 15 tournaments on average per year as part of the ITF circuit all around the world. Get to know the players by clicking on their images below:

Successful Results

• Rob Shaw was the silver medalist at the 2023 Para Pan Am Games, qualified for all 4 Grand Slam events, and the Year-end Singles & Doubles Masters. Shaw was also the first Canadian to win a singles gold medal at a multi-sports event at the 2019 Para Pan Am Games  
• Thomas Venos won his 4^th consecutive NCAA men´s singles title for the University of Alabama in 2023 and was the first Canadian to graduate from a US university as part of a wheelchair tennis program. 
• Natalia Lanucha reached a career high #43 ITF women´s singles ranking and won 2 ITF singles events nd the 2023 Birmingham Nationals 
• Rob Shaw is the first Canadian ever to win a singles gold medal at a multi-sports event at the 2019 Para Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru
• Sarah Hunter was the highest-ranked Canadian wheelchair tennis player in history reaching world No. 2 in 2003 and finished 4^th in doubles at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games 
• Philippe Bedard and Joel Dembe were the first Canadian players to win a medal at multi-sports games by winning the doubles bronze medal at the 2015 Toronto Para Pan Am Games 
• Canadian teams posted strong results in the World Team Cup world group including: women’s team 4^th place (1998, 2004, 2005, 2006), quad team 4^th place (2003), and men’s team 8^th place (1988, 1990, 2000) 

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National Development Program