The inspiring story of Victorian tennis coach Vicky Lee

Imagine a 5-year-old playing at a yellow ball level with wooden racquets on a full-size tennis court without any modified rules. That is exactly how Vicky Lee, the founder, director and head coach of Slamin Tennis & Fitness, embarked on her amazing tennis journey.

Actually, she started by hitting a tennis ball against a brick wall at home, just like how most of us would begin playing tennis. After receiving a flyer for tennis lessons in the mailbox, her parents signed her up at the local club. Lee was inspired by her parents, who were tennis players themselves. Growing up in the era of Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, she looked up to this amazing couple as her role models.

“Nothing in life worthwhile is easy,” Lee says. The biggest sacrifices she has had to make to become an outstanding tennis player are effort, time and financial investment. Lee’s whole childhood was basically spent on a tennis court and she had to train 20 to 25 hours a week! Without the support and financial investment from her parents, she would never have got this far in her tennis journey.

Did you know that Lee had received a full scholarship to Marshall University in the USA? You might be wondering why she chose to pursue her studies in the USA. Would education in the USA outperform that in the “State of Education”? It was simply because Lee appreciated the US college system where players can develop professional skills while studying. Not only was Marshall a well-recognised university equipped with fantastic facilities, but it was also dedicated to female athletes. Lee used to be a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world ranking holder, a British ranking holder, a French ranking holder, as well as an Australian ranking holder. She was also a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Certified Professional Tennis Coach. Unfortunately, Lee sustained a drastic hip injury and it was just too painful to keep competing at an international level. Thus, she decided to write a new chapter of her tennis career as a professional coach.

In Lee’s opinion, there is barely anything bad about being a tennis coach, except for the weather – a perpetual cycle of freezing cold nights and boiling hot days. On the contrary, the best thing of being a tennis coach is the people, the people that she gets to meet on the court and off the court. She enjoys watching players grow, establishing social connections and developing friendships. In Slamin Tennis, one can easily spot homegrown talent teaching younger players. That is because Lee keeps encouraging young coaches to undergo professional development through the Tennis Victoria Future Leaders Program. Currently, there are 16 local schools in the Eastern Melbourne suburbs attending the lunchtime and before school tennis lessons provided by Slamin Tennis. Lee says that after a few lessons, the coaches recommend the kids to come to the club and play in the environment where they can extend friendship groups and socialise with more people.

Lee caters for the different needs of particular players in order to help them be the best players they can be on the tennis court. Her goal in nurturing the next generation of players is to create unique pathways for individuals (for example, under 10s squads, under 12s squads, girls only squads, etc.) and help them play in club-based competitions and tournaments as soon as possible, with reaching Rubbers 1 as their ultimate goal. She believes that these competitions and tournaments are pivotal in developing one’s tactics and strategies and identifying strengths and weaknesses “because learning tennis without playing competition is like learning a language that no-one will ever use.” Lee suggests starting competition “as soon as someone can serve and rally.”

Can you feel Lee’s enthusiasm towards tennis? That is why she has been awarded the Tennis Victoria’s Excellence in Coach Award several times and also the TCAV (Tennis Coaches Australia – Victoria) Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2019.

Those awards are great recognition from tennis community, but what makes Lee extremely admirable is her consistent efforts to provide a positive environment for individuals with a disability, whether it is through the Advantage Autism Tennis program, or the Deaf Awareness and Auslan training.

Lee loves the inclusive nature of the sport. Why does she work tirelessly to help everyone be included? It is because she knows what it feels like to be excluded. At the age of six, she had a vision problem and had to wear a pirate patch. In her childhood, she would always ask if she could play tennis with her brother and his friends. But Lee also knows what it feels like to be included. Her coach and her whole club paved ways for her to keep playing tennis despite her vision problem. Lee’s unique experience makes her believe that “everybody in the world should be included in whatever they want to participate in.” She expects more people with additional needs would come into Slamin Tennis to learn tennis.

Lee has played a lot of roles in her career as a tennis player, a tennis coach and also as a tennis school founder. You may wonder which role she enjoys the most. She enjoys being on a tennis court for sure, but she also loves spending time with young people and inspiring them. Today, we are living in a world where everyone is comparing and expecting to receive instant gratification and instant recognition from social media. While “keyboard warriors” continue to put down people in the virtual world, Lee wants to be the person that whoever comes to her court feels like a superstar.

Apart from tennis, Lee is also passionate about mountain bike riding. You might see this remarkable tennis dream weaver hitting the trails in Manningham one day!

Please note: Images were added to this Junior Journo competition entry by Kids News editors and minor edits applied as per publishing requirements and editorial guidelines on the site.