This is a blog written to those of you who have been sexually abused while a junior tennis player.
I feel called to bring accountability to the unaccountable masses of tennis coaches worldwide who have been getting away with destroying the lives of their young female tennis students.
In May of 2006, I personally began a focused look into the darker side of competitive junior tennis. I have learned of too much to just continue passively waiting for the USTA or ITF to do something to protect the kids.
Today, I watched a terrific girl play in a tournament here in Florida. As I sat with her mother and father, I watched her fight it out on the tennis court. She played great. Yet, only a handful of us knew the pain she was forced to endure...
You see this preteen girl had been sexually molested by a pedophile tennis pro for months. The sick pedophile coach was finally caught and is now in prison. Though the thought of him in prison makes me glad he's off the tennis courts, I do get pretty angry when I think about the pain she has been forced to endure each day as she struggles to understand the world she lives in.
I'm grateful for the friendship of her parents and I look forward to watching God turn her pain into happiness for His glory as she heals and finds her comfort in Him.
You know, as abusers like these end up in prison, things will change. Men in tennis worldwide will know someone is ready to hold them accountable. Sure, some of them will get angry with me. Who cares. I don't get intimidated easily. And I don't back down to those pedophile cowards threatening me or slandering my ministry.
Sexual pedophile abusers are control freaks. I look forward to knowing they will be put in prison one at a time.
Abuse comes in many forms:
1. Sexual
2. Physical
3. Mental
4. Emotional
5. Financial
6. Spiritual
The International Christian Tennis Association is becoming known worlwide as a place tennis families can come to for support.
We are becoming known as a place God uses to rebuild the lives of junior tennis players harmed by the abusive manipulations of others.
Here is a true story for you to read. God used this situation to plant a seed in my heart...
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In this article I will share a difficult story of criminal sexual abuse towards a top female junior tennis player by a pedophile tennis coach as told to the International Christian Tennis Association by her parent…
I, Scott Paschal, will never forget meeting the dad. This man, so big and so seemingly strong, shaking as he spoke, tears welling up in his eyes.
The date was October 23, 2001. My small Christian tennis academy had journeyed to El Paso, Texas for an ITF Grade 5 junior tournament.
As he spoke, I was standing with two of my academy students, Rachel Snelen, and her twin sister, Melody Snelen, both 18 years of age and listening intently, while standing next to this shaking man’s daughter.
As Stan settled down and began speaking more clearly, he began to describe what had happened, a bit more in detail.
His then 13 year old daughter, Dana, was a promising tennis player from Southern California. She was tops in her age group and division. Stan felt it would benefit Dana greatly to travel to Florida to attend one of the top tennis academies in the world.
Who wouldn’t? The academy promised Stan great things! Stronger hitting partners, strength training, safe housing, many top tournaments. It all sounded so good.
Stan and Dana spoke with the entire family, then they prayed for God’s guidance, and it was decided Dana would leave for Florida.
For 2 years Dana trained hard. Her tennis improved.
Yet, her dad began sensing something was not right.
During Christmas break in 2000, Dana came home with a cell phone on her hip. Stan didn’t purchase it for her. It usually rang late at night and Dana refused to explain who was calling or even how she got a cell phone to begin with. Back in 2000, remember, cell phones for 13 year olds weren’t the norm.
After much discussion, Stan then began asking his daughter why she has lost so much weight. Dana often refused to eat dinner with the family, then, the rare time she did, she would quietly walk to the bathroom. Dana’s mom and Stan become highly concerned.
As the new academy semester rolled around, Stan told Dana she was not going back to train there. Dana exploded.
Stan held his ground. After a few days, Stan took Dana’s cell phone and called the one number it held.
The person answering the phone was one of the top coaches in the world. Stan knew this famous tennis coach was married, and had a family of his own.
Stand slowly closed the phone. For two days the family searched for a psychologist who could see them on such short notice. Finally, they found one.
The next week unfolded a story of sexual abuse from a married man with children towards a 13 year old girl.
Stan contacted the police in Florida. The police began an investigation. Stan contacted the academy. The academy refused to investigate.
As time passed, the police did not have any DNA evidence to link Dana to the tennis coach. It had been to long since he had raped her, and then established a sexual relationship with her.
It had been to long for a semen sample to be found.
Dana, then 16 when I met her, had been sexually and mentally abused by one of the most famous tennis coaches at one of the most famous tennis academies in the world.
She was fighting bulimia and anorexia brought on by the abuse. Her tennis game was gone. Her once promising talent, destroyed by a pedophile tennis coach.
The situation took its toll. The mom divorced Stan. The entire situation had destroyed the family. Dad lost his job. He couldn’t work… he slid into a depression and felt like an utter failure.
In fact, Stan lost about everything he had. He simply couldn’t believe he placed his daughter in such a dangerous position. He blamed himself.
Because of that disgustingly perverted pedophile tennis coach, Dana lost her home… her family structure… her physical health… it’s all gone.
So, there I was in El Paso, Texas on a windy day, listening. Stan hugging me and crying. Dana watching, the tears no longer able to flow.
I could do nothing for their situation, except pray and be a friend. The past is the past and I wanted to help facilitate the future for them.
I could never understand their pain, but God can and what Satan uses to attempt to destroy us, God can use to grow us for His glory.
I know who this tennis coach is. I'm watching him intently.
Honestly, I have had days when I actually hated the pedophile. I work hard to be a good Christian when I see this loser.
He is still coaching young, teen girls. Parents still send their kids to that academy, unknowing of Dana’s story. Dana and her father have simply been called “a disgruntled former student and parent.”
Though Dana can describe every inch of that man’s body, though Dana can thoroughly tell intimate details of how that tennis coach dislikes his wife, though the cell phone was in the pedophile’s name… though a young 13 year old girl has lost her family, though Dana’s body was destroyed by eating disorders, though Dana’s dad is battling depression…
Though all of this has happened, God is still in control.
Yes, sin attacked Dana’s family. Satan gained a stronghold. He did. That’s a fact.
Yet, now God has an opportunity to rebuild. Much like the tragic events of 911 hurt our country, God has used that tragedy for His glory as a spiritual awakening began nationwide.
The Bible says… “Our love must not be a thing of words and fine talk. It must be a thing of action and sincerity (1 John 3:18).”
Through any difficult circumstance Jesus asks us to lean on Him. Dana and Stan can get through this.
Are you going through a difficult time? Trust in God to see you through. Read your Bible, pray, fellowship with other believers. Read your Bible, then do what it says, so you can learn to be like Christ.
I have many stories like these God has brought into my life. As a person who stands up for Christ in a Godless sport, I tend to hear from a lot of people and learn a lot of things.
Because of Dana and Stan, the International Christian Tennis Association has formed a tennis ministry specifically dealing with child abuse. You can visit the ICTA at www.christiantennis.net.
Oftentimes, when I stand up to an abuser, I myself get abused by them.
These abusive cowards often threaten to harm me, either physically or by slander, so they can once again live their life of abusive behavior.
That’s ok.
God is in control.
I pray this story has touched your heart. Please pray for Dana and Stan, as well as for their entire family. Please pray as well for the pedophile tennis coach at the famous tennis academy in Florida.
Stan was such a big guy. Strong and seemingly secure…. to this day I have his memory etched in my thoughts…
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Sexual abuse among junior girls ages 10 to 14 is rampant.
One of my former students, who was the #5 G16 in Russia, shared with me her sexual abuse of her coach when she was 13. She stated nothing could be done about it as there are no serious penalties for this type of behavior from tennis coaches.
Russia, USA, Australia, Spain... I have visited with people worlwide who are dealing with the effects of sexual predators posing as tennis teaching professionals. From a current 10 year old female junior in Florida who was recently sexually assaulted on a months-long basis by her tennis pro- to a 22 year old top 100 WTA player who was sexually abused at 14... male tennis pro sexual abuse by within the sport of tennis is out of control.
And the current governing bodies of tennis are doing nothing about it!
I say it is time for them to get involved or be held responsible for hiding the facts!
If the United States Tennis Association, the Professional Tennis Registry, the International Tennis Federation, and the United States Professional Tennis Association are going to develop and host tennis programs, as well as certify tennis pros, the public has a right to send their children to a safe environment to participate in these programs.
The International Christian Tennis Association has developed a ministry to log and track all tennis teaching pros/coaches who have been convicted of sexual abuse against a minor. The program the pro was involved in teaching, the club/facility that hired him, and the organization which certified him will be logged.
I fully expect this ministry to grow to become an international force in holding tennis pros/tennis academies/ tennis teaching certification associations/national tennis federations accountable for who they place on the tennis courts.
Here are a few of the stories from people I have spoken with this year...
- An ICTA member and a friend of mine is a doctor . He and his wonderful wife have twin girls. One of the twins had been sexually molested for months by a local tennis pro who trained the girls at their house. The pro is now in jail. The family is learning to cope with the after effects of this sick tennis pro's behavior. I now know who this man is, and which prison he is in.
- Earlier this year, I spoke with a famous female tennis player. She shared with me how she was sexually abused by her tennis coach starting when she was 14 years of age. He took most of her prize money, sexually assaulted her on a regular basis, then slandered her reputation so few would listen to her. I know who this man is and where he is currently working.
- A top tennis coach at a famous tennis academy in the USA sexually molested a 14 year old girl from California for over a year. This tennis pro was in his 40's, married, and has children of his own. I met the girl when she was 16. Her life was devestated. Her father was in terrible emotional pain as he spoke to me. The tennis coach is still working at this famous tennis academy.
- A famous tennis coach from Australia who owned a popular Australian junior tennis academy was convicted of sexually molesting a 14 year old girl at his academy. He is now in prison. The girl's life is in turmoil.
- Jan - March of 2006, I coached a famous female tennis player. She shared with me that her tennis coach of 2 years had a "revelation from God" in which God told him she must lose her upcoming main draw Wimbledon match to a famous Christian tennis player. After she lost this match, she sank into a deep depression and became suicidal. The coach is now working with another young female.
- In Texas , an up and coming male junior tennis player with unlimited potential was sexually molested by a male caregiver. The boy eventually quit tennis, became addicted to drugs...
ICTA has a strong database of lawyers who are ICTA members. It's time to shine a light into the darker corners of competitive junior tennis.
It's time to protect the kids.
God bless,
Scott Paschal
Ministry Director
International Christian Tennis Association
www.christiantennis.net
