17-05-2025
Tennis player from Massachusetts used her passion for violin to heal from car crash injury and keep playing
Swansea tennis player is also an aspiring violinist off the court
Swansea tennis player is also an aspiring violinist off the court
Swansea tennis player is also an aspiring violinist off the court
A tennis player at Joseph Case High School in Swansea, Massachusetts overcame an injury from a car crash to return to her two passions: tennis and playing the violin.
High school senior Jade Vadeboncoeur does it all - by day, she balances a load of AP courses. After school, she plays multiple sports, including tennis, where she dominates on the courts of Swansea.
"I get so excited to play, tennis just lets me be me," said Vadeboncoeur.
"She's incredible. You go town to town and Jade's the best player in this area," said Case High School tennis coach, Mackenzie Deschenes.
Violin brings her peace
For most people, that would probably be enough. But Vadeboncoeur said that her real passion starts when she walks off the court. She said playing the violin is when she truly feels at peace.
"I've been playing my violin for about eight years. I started when I was in fourth grade," said Vadeboncoeur. "The violin calms me down significantly. Like with all the overwhelming everything, I feel like just playing the violin is an escape from all the stress and I can just truly be myself."
In the fall, Vadeboncoeur will attend Ithaca College in New York to study music education. It's a dream that was threatened a couple of years back when a car crash stopped her from playing.
Suffered concussion in car crash
"I'm driving on the highway home from orchestra one day and it was pouring, pouring on the highway and we were going significantly under the speed limit and somebody hydroplaned and hit us," said Vadeboncoeur.
Vadeboncoeur suffered a serious concussion that took her more than a year to recover from. She thought her days of playing tennis might be over.
"I had constant headaches, I was constantly tired," said Vadeboncoeur.
"That was something we struggled with last year, for sure," said Deschenes. "We didn't want to push her too hard but she's a competitor so she herself wanted to be challenged, wanted to be pushed."
It was her perseverance, her love of the game and the violin that Vadeboncoeur said helped her heal and continue playing.
"I wanted to keep going with everything because I love everything that I do," said Vadeboncoeur.
