Tennis Player With Scoliosis Gets 'Courageous Award' From South Jersey Coaches

CHERRY HILL, NJ – The determination of a Cherry Hill West tennis player to keep playing through nagging pain after her scoliosis diagnosis has earned her the South Jersey Tennis Coaches’ Association Courageous Award for 2022.

Hannah Azar’s grandmother, Kay, coached tennis for many years and the two began going out to play at a local court in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Azar says a professional coach met them there and encouraged her to take lessons, and she decided she wanted to play her freshman year at CH West.

But it wasn’t as simple as that. Azar’s mother Heidi had noticed her shoulder blades were out of alignment, beginning a series of appointments with doctors, and then surgeons at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The family found out Hannah’s spine had a curvature of 52 percent. She would need surgery to correct it – but the season was about to start, and she wanted to play.

So, Azar decided to manage what she could and have surgery after the season. She wore a back brace during her freshman season with the Lions and did physical therapy to strengthen her core and realign her posture. At the end of the season, there was some improvement in the curvature, but it was still measuring 48 percent.

“Surgery was my best option,” said Azar.

A few days before Thanksgiving, surgeons at CHOP put rods and screws in her back, and Azar had to wait six months before she did any exercise. As she was preparing to go back to school this February, Azar developed a staph infection, and had to have a nodule on her back drained twice.

Then, she was clear to play, and did so this season even as it pained her.

But before the season ended, Azar noticed another nodule on her back, and had to get it tested – it was a staph infection again.

“It was during one of my last matches,” she said. “My back was numb during the entire match but I thought it was just because it was cold.”

She’s waiting until after the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association banquet to get the lump cleaned out, and have the hardware in her back removed in hopes to fully clean her body out of this staph infection.

Surgeons will wait for her to heal, then put some of the hardware back in again in January to complete the spinal fusion.

Azar’s mother Heidi said it has been difficult to see Hannah in pain during this ordeal. The support of her teammates and Coach Kristin Bradford “has made such a difference,” Heidi said, as has the support of her three brothers, dad, and grandparents.

“This award is pretty amazing, recognizing her struggle,” Heidi Azar told Patch. “She would have pain during this whole season, and sometimes it would show up during a game, in a match, and you don’t really know the window of what people are going through on the court.”

Azar said she found out Bradford nominated her several weeks ago, during warm-ups. Luckily, she is fever-free as of Friday and ready for the banquet – one she finishes writing her three-to-four minute speech, which she admitted being a bit nervous about delivering

Bradford said Azar was her “number one player” this season and noted how she played through the persistent pain in her singles matches.

“For her to compete at that level and to be a competitor on the court is just phenomenal,” said Bradford. “She’s a complete tough kid. She loves the game and she wanted to be on the court.”

Bradford is also getting an award Sunday, as the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association tapped her for Coach of the Year.

“She is very passionate about teaching the team,” Azar said of Bradford. “And she’s also very supportive. Throughout my entire experience with surgery, she’s been in my corner which is nice and just makes it a lot easier.” Read more about Coach Bradford in this article.

Azar said she appreciates the technical aspects of tennis and how a player can continually improve their progress.

“There are so many aspects to tennis and different levels,” she said. “I feel like you can see progress as you get better.”

She watched the recent movie “King Richard,” about Venus and Serena Williams, and their father’s aspirations to train them as professional tennis players. Azar said she enjoyed the depiction of Serena’s journey particularly.

“She rose by herself, she kind of did it all herself and it was cool to see how she grew,” said Azar.

After high school, Azar said she is thinking of studying genetics.

But first, she's got a speech to give.