Tennis Reflection

Tennis was a very interesting CAS activity for me. When I was younger I used to take tennis lessons, but prior to joining the Sturgis team I literally hadn't played tennis for seven years. I was excited but nervous at the prospect of trying a nearly foreign sport. It's difficult for me to enjoy a sport if I'm not successful at it, so I was worried that this activity wouldn't be the best for me. However, I decided to give it a try, do my best, and see if I could rid myself of the mentality that I always have to be a "winner."

In the end, I think I did myself proud. At the beginning of the season I was absolutely dreadful. My serves and forehands were dreadful, and my backhands were non-existent. It was a huge challenge for me to relearn an entire sport in the course of a season. However, I stayed very committed for the first few weeks. I developed the essential skill of the backhand and I continued improving it. My forehand got better as well, and my serve became very strong. I was no longer ignorant of the game - far from it - and I was becoming a decent tennis player. My coach even recognized my improvement and was afraid that I'd fall in love with the sport and forget my true love of soccer. However, this was not the case.

As the season progressed and my skills were honed, my improvements were recognizable. On the JV team, I was paired with Luke regularly and we made a great team. We never won a match against an opposing school, but often during practice we remained calm and did exceptionally well. We worked together cohesively as a unit. Neither of us were the greatest tennis players, but we communicated very well, and this allowed us to have greater court presence and return more shots.

Unfortunately, I was unable to remain dedicated to tennis. I had persevered with my training and coach was even considering me for varsity when I was forced to get a job and start working. Funds were low for me and my family, and sadly I had to sacrifice tennis. I still want to say that I was committed to the activity, because I tried very hard up until I began working five nights a week and could simply no longer manage tennis because of my hours. I felt terrible and that I had let my team and coach down, but I am still proud of my efforts until my withdrawal.

In the end, I became more confident in my newfound tennis abilities, even though they were far from the best on the team. I further assured myself that I can learn anything, and also taught myself that being a champion of everything isn't necessary. I wish I could have continued with tennis, as I was drastically improving, but maybe next year I'll come back and even play for varsity.