If you think it’s tough keeping up with wheelchair tennis champ Karin Korb on a tennis court, try catching her when the white lines are removed and the world becomes her playground.

The first time I called to request an interview, I was greeted by a cheerful and animated outgoing cell phone message. It said something like, “Hi everyone, thanks for calling but I’m out of the country right now and there’s a huge time difference between where you are and where I am; so leave a message, let me catch up on some sleep, and I’ll try to call you back when we are both awake.” 

The message is proof that Korb is a girl on the go. If she isn’t traveling for wheelchair tennis, she’s most likely at a clinic, visiting friends or on vacation.

When we finally connected, our first telephone conversation was brief. “I’m sorry I have been so hard to find but I’m actually kind of busy right now,” she said. “I’m at a skydiving center in Arizona and I’ll have some time to talk tomorrow if that works for you.”

I gladly gave it another day and ended the call imagining a blonde, skydiving paraplegic falling through the air with the rip cord in one hand and a cell phone in the other targeting a wheelchair 10,000 feet below.

Wheelchair Tennis Champ
The Women’s Sports Foundation says Korb is a veteran on the International Tennis Federation circuit who is currently ranked number 17 internationally and number 2 nationally. She’s featured in the Women's Sports Foundation book SuperWomen: 100 Women - 100 Sports and is a spokeswoman for GoGirlGo! Atlanta. She is a certified public trainer and was a champion of the first women's wheelchair bodybuilding competition.

There is more to this girl than her physical prowess. Korb speaks German and Spanish fluently, received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kean University and a master’s in Sports Management at Georgia State University, where she was the first female with a disability to receive a Division I athletic scholarship to play collegiate wheelchair tennis.

A Google search yields nearly 2,000 hits, and her MySpace page overflows with friends and shout-outs. One MySpace friend even asked, “Where the heck are you these days?”

Bringing Wheelchair Tennis to Kids with Disabilities
When we finally had a chance to talk, Korb had just finished a workout along the Strand on Coronado Island. She had driven across the “rattlesnake infested desert” from Arizona and was unwinding at one of her favorite cardio places before assuming counselor duty at the San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation’s 21st Annual San Diego Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp.

It was no coincidence that she made the six-hour drive; her tennis history in San Diego dates back 14 years and she loves returning to the camp.

“Have you ever been fingerprinted?” she immediately inquired. “I had to do it this morning to work with the kids and the new electronic process they use out here is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Between you and me, I have no idea how the machine found a fingerprint on my calloused fingertips but I’m happy it’s over.”

So how does an interviewer transition from a question like that? I struggled for the right words before realizing that the list of questions I had been waiting to ask were basically worthless now that we were actually talking and her personality was rolling.

You see, when you are Karin Korb, there’s beauty and excitement in even the smallest things. Communicating is about sharing energy and showing excitement. Life is about living. From stories of electronic fingerprints to her passion for promoting general health and wellness, every interaction with Korb is an opportunity to learn something new, and every day is a chance to smile and improve a life.

Working with children with disabilities is something she enjoys the most these days. 

“It allows me to share the energy that flows when these kids experience something like hitting a tennis ball for the first time," she says. "They independently make decisions on the wheelchair tennis court that will help them in their lives. That’s a big thing in a world that usually doesn’t let them decide anything.”

After the camp in San Diego ends, Korb will return to her home in Atlanta. She looks forward to spending some time in the U.S., shifting her focus away from competitive wheelchair tennis, and becoming a bit of a homebody.

“I bought a new loft a year and a half ago and still haven’t unpacked all my boxes,” she explained. “I really want to watch some of those home shows and get some ideas for things to do. I won’t ever be far from a tennis court, but it’s time for me to focus on some personal projects.”

Photos – ITFTennis.com, United Spinal Association