Film 'Never Give Up' Features Florida Player Brad Minns

What happens when a man trusts God to achieve the impossible? The new movie "Never Give Up" shares the story of deaf athlete Brad Minns of Orlando. 

The Men's Singles Tennis Finals at the 1985 Deaf Olympics was truly a Match for the Ages, when Minns fought back from match point to win the gold medal in the fifth set. The match serves as a framework for the story of this inspirational man who became deaf at the age of three from a deadly fever yet rose to the height of his sport.

The film will be in select theaters on September 1st, 2023.

"Never Give Up" features both hearing and deaf actors, including Harrison Stone (GREEN BOOK, YOUNG ROCK), Erin Bethea (FIREPROOF, REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS), Drew Waters (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, TRUE DETECTIVE), and Nicolle Ashley (LAST AMERICAN HORROR SHOW, VOL. II), The film was written and directed by Rob Loos (McGEE AND ME!, IESODO), and produced by Rick Eldridge (THE ULTIMATE GIFT, THE MULLIGAN). 

Minns was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1965. At the age of three he lost his hearing when he contracted a deadly fever. Rather than send him to special schools, his parents made sure Brad knew how to read lips and had him fitted with hearing aids.

He began playing sports and found that he had an interest in tennis, which he began to participate in more and more. He went on to become one of the top junior players in his age division and received a scholarship at the University of Toledo as a walk-on. After college he went on to become the USA's number one deaf tennis player and won numerous World Deaf Championships. He also helped the USA to win its first ever Dreese Cup in 1995.

Not being content with just playing professional tennis at the World level, he began using his body building in earnest. In 1995 he won the PAS / Experimental and Applied Sciences nutritional supplement transformation contest now known as Body-For-Life and became their second national spokesperson. His bodybuilding success earned him various modeling jobs including being Nordic Flex's cover model and appearing in their national advertising campaign.

Brad has always met his goals and is now determined to teach others how to go for their dreams. Today, he lives with his wife, Ginny, in Orlando and works as a tennis professional and personal trainer. He speaks at Fellowship of Christian Athletes groups where he shares his testimony of living a life for Christ.

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Written by Florida Tennis Founder/Editor: Jim Martz. Photos/Video: Never Give Up.