Rolling fast and hitting hard are what Windaroo athlete Josh Brass loves most about playing wheelchair tennis.
The 16-year-old has just returned home after donning the green and gold for the first time to compete for Australia at the BNP Paribas Junior World Team Cup in Belgium.
“I am so proud to be representing my country,” Josh said.
“When I started with [coach] Drew [Parker], I put this down as my ultimate goal … now look at me,” he said.
Josh, who is the junior boys’ wheelchair tennis world ranked No.32, beat the No.11 ranked player from the USA, before going down to his Aussie team mate, world No.8 Sonny Rennison, 13.
The Australian team, which also includes world No. 6 Arlo Shawcross, 15, placed third at the tournament and also received the team award.
Josh first tried playing tennis in Prep, but moved through a few different sports before picking it up again in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I like speed, however tennis is more tactical. I like that you can hit hard, move fast and travel and meet new people,” Josh said.
He said the best part of the trip was being able to compete against the best players with his friends.
The Belgium trip was Josh’s second overseas competition, after playing the Japan Open last year. He heads to Japan again later this month for the Sendai Open.
Josh trains most days with coach Drew Parker at Canterbury College, with the school structuring his senior studies around his training.
Mum Abbi Brass said that as a junior athlete with Tennis Australia, Josh also competes at the national International Tennis Federation sanctioned tournaments held around Australia every three months, earning points towards his ranking.
“He can access the countries top coaches and is invited to development camps throughout the year at the Australian Institute of Sport,” she said.
Josh was born with a congenital disability called Sacral Agenesis or Caudal Regression Syndrome, which falls under the umbrella of spina bifida and affects one in 20,000 people.
But Josh doesn’t let it slow him down. He has also been competing in 5-10km races since he was six-years-old.
“I like to do wheelchair racing if I’m not playing tennis,” he said.
He placed first in the Gold Coast Marathon inaugural wheelchair 4km in 2024 with a time of 15:33, finished the 10km Bridge to Brisbane in 56:54 and placed third in the men’s division of the Jetty to Jetty at Clontarf last year.
He has also recently become an Adventure Brisbane ambassador, helping to promote adventures in the lead up to the 2032 Olympics, including the proposed flying fox across the Brisbane River.
He plans to study a Bachelor of Business or a Bachelor of Marketing at university and to keep playing tennis, with his eye on playing grand slams.
The Australian team is coached by Tennis Australia’s Greg Crump and national high performance wheelchair tennis coach Francois Vogelsberger, with support from pathways and performance manager for tennis inclusion Holly Hurst.
Subscribe to stay up-to-date with news from across Logan. You’ll receive a link to our digital newspaper direct to your inbox each week. It’s free.
