Roy Trafalski began playing tennis in high school. As his family could not afford lessons or court time, he improved his personal skill level through practice, as well as observation and study of skilled players and available books and magazines. While taking night courses in American Sign Language, Roy developed a passion for the DHH community and began conceiving the concept of DHH tennis classes. He has served as the Deaf Specialist on the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA’s) Adaptive Tennis committee for the past eight years.

Tom Baxted is a former #1-ranked USA Deaf tennis player. He represented the US in the Deaflympics in 1977 and 1981.  Despite being a talented baseball player as a child, Tom spent most of his time on the bench due to communication difficulties with teammates and coaches. This led to discouragement and decreasing self-esteem until, at age 10, he was introduced to tennis. Tom realized to compete and succeed he was dependent upon only himself, and as such taught himself the skills necessary to improve and eventually become a member of the ATP tour, the highest level of competitive tennis in the world.

Roy and Tom bonded over a shared love of tennis and began teaching clinics together in 2002. Their shared passion for the game, as well as their personal recognition and experience of all of its potential benefits, are what led to the creation of DhhEAF and its continued positive impacts and successes.