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�Tennis nut� is proud of title Bob Pennell photo Don Drake ducks under a volley by doubles teammate Malcom Asling, both of Grants Pass, during a wheelchair tennis demonstration at North Medford High School. The two members of Southern Oregon Wheelchair and Recreation often join president Claudia Dickerson at school assemblies to show their enthusiasm for the sport. By Joanna Collins When it comes to tennis nuts, Claudia Dickerson of Grants Pass wins the prize � literally. The tennis coordinator for the Medford Parks and Recreation Department recently was named "Biggest Tennis Nut in the Pacific Northwest" in a Tennis Times magazine contest. After successfully battling cancer, Dickerson six years ago returned to the game she loved as a young woman and is now trying to help everyone she can find confidence through the sport. "From birth to grave, that�s who I want out playing tennis," she says. Her enthusiasm for the sport is so high she does school assemblies with two men in wheelchairs � just to prove anyone can play, even in a gym. Don Drake and Malcolm Asling, both of Grants Pass, play the game together in specially designed wheelchairs for fun and camaraderie. "(It�s been) many, many years pounding the ball at each other and cursing each other," says Asling. Dickerson first met the two members of Southern Oregon Wheelchair and Recreation four years ago. She says she saw Drake and Asling playing tennis in a park in Grants Pass and asked, "How can I help you?" As vice president of the Grants Pass Community Tennis Association at the time, Dickerson wanted to recruit more players and help open eyes to wheelchair sports. Now that she�s president of the association along with coordinating lessons for Medford�s parks, she keeps on her toes. "She�s very, very hard working," says Drake. "She�s really into it." Dickerson, 44, first played tennis on a community level from age 18 to 21. Twelve years later, when doctors discovered uterine cancer during the pregnancy of her third child, life took a turn for the worse. Dickerson says it took about five years to really feel confident again. "When I felt better after being sick I decided to bring Claudia back," she says, "not just the mom, or the wife, or the sister or the daughter." So Dickerson started playing tennis again six years ago. She competed on a women�s team and involved herself in the Grants Pass association. From January to June of this year, she helped coordinate for Rogue Valley Swim and Tennis and then moved on to Medford�s parks department. Now she oversees the city�s program �along with giving some of the lessons. Dickerson sees tennis as an opportunity to stay fit and make friends. " We have kids who could be playing tennis instead of hanging out on the streets," she says. While giving lessons, she heaps on plenty of praise and encouragement. "Make sure you lift up. Bend those knees, that�s it," she calls out to her students. Eleven-year-old Brittany Anders has taken lessons from Dickerson for only two weeks, but she says she feels confident already. "She�s a really good teacher," Brittany says. "She doesn�t make things so confusing." Sherolyn Tramen, of Grants Pass, has brought her two teenagers to Dickerson�s lessons for a second summer. "She brings out the best in you," Tramen says. Eight tennis lessons through Medford�s Parks and Recreation Department range from less than $15 for youths and less than $20 for adults. For more information o n lessons, call 774-2400. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA