Tennis Encounters of Countless Times – Predictions
My latest epiphany happened on the golf course just a few days before putting my thoughts to this commentary. It’s a tennis magazine that I write for, so why write about golf? I always think that golf and tennis are cousins. The game for a lifetime that the USTA often touted as their proverb also applies to golf. There are golf and tennis resorts, golf and tennis country clubs, and many people who play tennis dabble in golf and vice-versa. The social aspect of the two games are similar in that they are both great sports to encounter people, and create and expand a social network.
On this particular day out on the course, I was partnered with two young college kids. In conversation, I found out their other hobby was playing tennis. I was off and running with discussion when I heard about their tennis exploits. These two young men were going into their last year of college and were hoping to learn these two sports to help them springboard their careers and be marketable away from the boardroom and classroom. A pat on the back from me was the next thing as we completed our round of golf. Somehow, I knew these young men were going to be successful, I gave them my card and hoped that they will see me for some tennis lessons at some point.
Two days later, I found myself back in my comfort zone, on the tennis courts filling in as a day camp counselor. I was working with several high school kids who were 3.5 level players at best. Certainly they were good enough to play on their high school tennis team. I knew that these young people were not in the offering for college scholarships in the sport of tennis. They certainly were not skilled enough to become college players at the college where I coach. However, fresh off a bad round of golf, which is certainly not my expertise, during a tennis ball pickup after the day was over, I shared my golf story with these young high school kids. I promised them that sticking with the game of tennis, whether they played high school varsity tennis or college tennis, would open doors . Opportunities would knock on their door and you just don’t know where the game will take you, but you can be sure that the game will provide a positive journey. That’s what our game does … it opens doors and provides opportunities.
I return to SUNY Oneonta in a few weeks. As a matter of fact, while you are reading this, I am already there coaching our Women’s Tennis team. As you watched the U.S. Open, I could not be at Flushing Meadows watching the best players in the world beat each other up on every point. I was on our 12 beautiful tennis courts in Oneonta, N.Y., three-hours from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, training highly-skilled females to prepare for battle.
One of the stories I can share with them is the fact I had the privilege of writing seven recommendation letters for students who graduated this past May. All of them having played four successful years of college tennis. They went on their interviews and sent out to grad school applications with a letter from their Head Coach endorsing them as potentially great employees, students and a good bet for success. I am not boasting about the letters I wrote, only boasting about the students who stood out because of their tennis successes and their level of commitment. They handled social situations while traveling great distances in all hours of the day, managing their time to be successful in the classroom. The professors marveled at their accomplishments and so did the future employers and grad school admission counselors. The social doors opened up at the same time. Game, set and match metaphorically! My players won their own U.S. Open having a 15-Love lead at every interview, grad school meeting and just two months later while writing this they won championships of a different type. Not the kind that is given at the U.S. Open, but their championship trophy was given in the form of a diploma, employment and grad school entry. I also explained this to my young golf partners a few days ago.
If you are lucky enough to ever have a ticket to the U.S. Open, I bet if you strike up a conversation with your fellow spectators that you can find something in common besides tennis or golf. You just might find there are opportunities that can be created because you play or know the game of tennis.
Tennis is a special fraternity, much like golf, with much crossover between the two. I cannot play tennis at the level of my some of my former players can anymore. We can talk tennis though on the golf course and I have played a few rounds with my former players. Tennis is our special bond and we spring-boarded our tennis commonality to other things that allow us to stay close. After a round of golf, they go back to their jobs and return to the tennis court, I go back to coaching tennis, the game I love.
You simply just cannot predict specifically where our game will take you in life, but I can foretell with almost 100 percent certainty that it will be positive with a wonderful expedition. If you have read some of my articles in this magazine, I have written on this topic quite often on the plethora of opportunities that can be had because of your involvement in tennis. What I find interesting is that every time I write something on the dividends gained from tennis beyond the court it’s not just coincidence that these principles resonate each and every day. It is partnered with the many encounters that I have because of my tennis. Each encounter opens up some type of opportunity. What I wonder is how many more encounters that will promote positive interactions and what opportunities will unfold between now and the next article I write? I predict many more to share.
