Lincoln teen to represent America in international wheelchair tennis tourney

Lincoln East senior Lily Lautenschlager is wearing the Team USA colors in Portugal this week.

LINCOLN, Neb, (KLKN) – On the threshold of international competition, you’d think Lily Lautenschlager would be at least a little nervous. As she gets in a few final practice sessions before heading to Portugal, though, she stays calm, cool, and collected.

Lily has been playing tennis for some time, but it’s in the past couple of years that she’s blossomed into a fierce competitor.

“I started doing lessons more consistently, and at the beginning of last year, I did my first tournament”, she recalls. “Since then I’ve done a couple more tournaments, and I’ve just fallen in love all over again.”

Lily has been using a wheelchair consistently for years, but this certainly doesn’t slow her down. Her coach, Kevin Heim, says the game is a lot more involved when you add a chair to the equation. He’s tried it out himself, to better understand the needs of athletes using wheelchairs.

“When you first get in the chair and you have to move, and hold the racket at the same time, and swing at the same time that you’re moving… completely different”, he says.

Just watching practice, you can see how different this variant of the game can be. Lily snakes across the court, constantly in motion, keeping her momentum. She’s thrived in this challenging discipline.

“There’s always new challenges, and that’s what I love about wheelchair tennis, and tennis in general”, says Heim. “Everyone’s different, and trying to find a way to get them to their highest level.”

This is Lily’s current high-water mark, but she has her sights set even higher.

“My goal has always been to go to the Paralympics for either basketball or tennis”, she says. “The fact that I’m going to be wearing “USA” and representing my country, it’s incredible because I know that’s the stepping stone and then Paralympics is the next step for me.”

She may call it a stepping stone, but playing on the international stage before graduating high school certainly seems like a huge leap forward.