LEOMINSTER — Ghanaian-born Linda Yeboah is tearing up the tennis court at Leominster High School as a rising senior. 

After earning the most votes from her teammates, Yeboah, 16, was elected one of the tri-captains of the Leominster Blue Devils tennis team for the 2021 season.

“When we talked about choosing captains, I said I don’t want the best players, I don’t want the most vocal players — I want leaders. And leadership is something that Linda has in spades,” said Daryl Robichaud, coach of the Blue Devils girl’s tennis team. “She’s not showy, she’s not ostentatious, she’s very humble. She leads by example.”

Robichaud said that Yeboah’s been advancing rapidly, as evidenced by her 3-to-2 season record.

“[She has] the ability to dictate the point, meaning that she can move side-to-side. Instead of just getting the ball over the net, she can now play the ball to the left, to the right, short, long and play the point in such a way that it works to her strengths,” Robichaud explained. “It’s a power game. She can kind of lull her opponent to sleep, then she pounces.”

Yeboah’s drive and success in tennis shouldn’t come as a surprise. She’s the daughter of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, a renowned Ghanaian disability rights activist and athlete. He’s been the inspiration for a Hollywood blockbuster, numerous children’s books — and millions of people with disabilities worldwide.

“He’s well known, but growing up with him, everything was normal,” Linda said. “He can do everything a person with two legs can. Sometimes, I don’t really see him as disabled, he does so much.”

Emmanuel was born without a right leg, which was a death sentence for many in Ghana back in the 1970s.

“At the time I was born in Ghana, a lot of family members told my mother to kill me because of my disability,” said Emmanuel. “In Ghana, disabled people couldn’t get a job. There was no life for them.”

Around 2001, Emmanuel applied for a bicycle from the Challenged Athletes Foundation in California. After receiving the bike, he pedaled 400 miles across Ghana with just one foot.  

“I wrote a letter to the media houses in Ghana for them to follow me and spread my message of wanting positive change in my country,” Emmanuel said. “I want the way disabled people are treated to change in my country. That’s how I started everything.”

The publicity he received from local media made him a sensation, even drawing the attention of Ghana’s then-President John Kufuor, whom Emmanuel urged to pass a disability rights law.

In 2005, Emmanuel was given an ESPY Award by Oprah Winfrey. That same year, Winfrey also narrated a movie about Emmanuel’s journey called “Emmanuel’s Gift.”

Then, in 2006, Ghana’s parliament passed the Persons with Disability Act, which was due in large part to Emmanuel’s efforts. The law permitted individuals with disabilities equal access to buildings, health care, employment and education, among other societal needs.

Emmanuel was invited by the Challenged Athletes Foundation to take part in a triathlon in San Diego. While in California, Emmanuel was given free surgery and a prosthetic leg from Loma Linda University Medical Center. He named Linda after the facility.

“[My children] are athletic, they do everything,” Emmanuel said. “Linda does everything.”

After high school, Linda said that she would like to take after her father and become a motivational speaker. She is also considering studying psychology to become a therapist.

“I just want to make people happy for a living,” Linda said.