Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Wheelchair Tennis

Dan James

Wheelchair Tennis

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Bulgaria

Dan James spent 16 years as the US Paralympic Coach for Wheelchair Tennis in the United States. He coached teams to 11 medals during his international career including 3 gold. During that time he utilized impactful communication to raise awareness, triple budget dollars, and integrate wheelchair tennis into the Grand Slams (US Open). He delivered keynote, workshop, and television presentations throughout the world. He is taking his experience as an elite coach and applying it to impactful communication through storytelling and relationship building.

2007 and 2011 USOC Paralympic Tennis Coach of the Year
2007 and 2011 International Wheelchair Tennis Coach of the Year
2018 Tennis Education Merit Award Winner, International Tennis Hall of Fame
2012 Ikkos Award Winner (awarded by Olympic/Paralympic athletes who medal)

David Wagner

Wheelchair Tennis

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Canada

Wagner has won more than a dozen Grand Slam titles and been ranked in the top three in the world for the past 14 years. Wagner suffered a spinal cord injury in 1995 after breaking his neck in an accident on the beach which left him paralyzed from the mid-chest down, retaining only 30 percent feeling in his hands, therefore categorizing him as a quadriplegic. After he took up table tennis as part of his rehabilitation efforts, Wagner picked up a tennis racquet in 1999 and soon began to compete competitively. By 2003, he became the No. 1 ranked quad wheelchair tennis player in the world and has held the No. 1 ranking for a number of times in his career.

Four-time Paralympian (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016);
Eight-time Paralympic medalist (3 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, doubles (silver), singles (bronze)
London 2012 Paralympic Games, doubles (gold), singles (silver)
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, doubles (gold), singles (bronze)
Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, doubles (gold), singles (silver)

He has one sister, Heather and one brother, Shane. His hobbies include cooking, reading and cheering on the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners.

Karin Korb

Wheelchair Tennis

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Bulgaria
  • 2015  –  Hungary
  • 2015  –  Romania
  • 2018  –  Venezuela

Karin Korb didn’t pick up a tennis racquet until she was 27 years old. Yet, a year later, she was among the top four women wheelchair tennis players in the world and playing in the World Team Cup, the Fed Cup of wheelchair tennis.

She serves on multiple boards including the Alabama FBI Citizens Academy, a Friend of Mind, Baseline Tennis, America Walks, the Alabama Disability Advocacy Program, the Is-Able Organization’s Advisory Board and the International Tennis Federation’s Player Council. She was awarded the 2018 Athletes in Excellence award by the Foundation for Global Sports Development which recognizes elite-level athletes who have dedicated themselves to bettering their local and global communities through mentorship, service, and volunteerism. Her career in both advocacy and policy has spanned over three decades, and she is fiercely committed to creating a more equitable future for all.

Paul Walker

Wheelchair Tennis

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Hungary
  • 2015  –  Romania

Paul Walker was injured in a parachuting accident in 1994 while serving as a commissioned officer in the United States Army. He is a 1986 graduate from Florida Southern College, having earned a B.A. in history and political science. He received his commission in 1988 and retired as a Captain in 1995. He is a proud veteran of Operation Desert Storm, and finds it humorous that the last unit he served in was the 2nd Armored Division (nicknamed Hell on Wheels). His experience leading soldiers has engendered within him a great sense of duty, responsibility and professionalism that is apparent in how he approaches almost every task.

Paul began his tennis coaching career in 2002 at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland, Fla., where he coached for 13 years. During his early coaching career, Paul began coaching at numerous wheelchair tennis camps around the country. In 2005, Dan James, then national manager of Wheelchair Tennis invited Paul to coach the U.S. women at the World Team Cup in the Netherlands. He has been a dedicated member of the national staff since then. Around 2008-09, Paul began coaching USTA league players in Polk County. He still coaches a dedicated group of women who he affectionately calls the PWTA. This fall he will begin his third year as an assistant coach to Trish Riddell with the Florida Southern women’s team.

Paul has always been an athlete. During his college days, he played baseball for Florida Southern. After his accident and prior to his subsequent career as a tennis coach, he worked his way through the ranks of the USTA wheelchair tennis divisions and ultimately became a top men’s open player in the U.S. Although he is one of the main characters in wheelchair tennis worldwide, he spends the majority of his coaching time with the able-bodied tennis community.