Fiend at Court Unplugged
Yesterday I traced through the improbable events that brought me back to the immediate proximity of tennis. The junior tennis career of the umpire I gave birth to brought me into regular contact with tennis and tennis facilities. However, watching tennis is not the same as playing tennis. Today we examine the next leg of the journey.
My first official match back was when the umpire I gave birth to decided that playing Mother-Daughter Doubles at the Cotton Bowl holiday tournament would be fun. We drew one of my friends from my junior playing days who went on to play 4 years of collegiate tennis at Purdue. The umpire I game birth to had also played my friends daughter a few times during the previous year. She won a total of three games in those three matches.
We lost the match 7-5, 6-2. I completely ran out of gas in the second set. Given how overmatched we appeared to be on paper, I was delighted that we had managed a competitive match score. On the other hand, the umpire I gave birth to was less than satisfied with our collective performance. I am not sure what she expected.
Thus started a tumultuous partnership. Somewhere between every 12-18 months, memories from our previous event would fade to the point that Mother-Daughter once again sounded like a good idea. A large part of our partnership challenge lies within the fact that we are wired the same. We can hear each other think. In family events, that isn’t the advantage that might be anticipated.
As 2019 drew to a close, we won Mother-Daughter doubles draw at the Cotton Bowl Tournament. I believe that this may have been one of the signs of the coming apocalypse that has turned out to be 2020. Sorry, world.
Our consensus plan is to retire as champions, never to play together again. It should be noted that no one was happier about that development than the Fiend at Court spousal unit. He is the person that had to endure the post-match complaints of both members of the partnership for years.
Stepping Into Singles
My first singles tournament play came just over a year later, and following another Cotton Bowl Mother-Daughter escapade. It was called to my attention that there was a lady entered in the Senior Women’s division in a small tournament that the umpire I gave birth to was slated to play. If I entered, that would mean that the draw would make.
That tournament was hosted out the tennis facility that is a short walking distance from the house of the umpire who gave birth to me. I worked the pro-shop there when I was in high school and college. The convenience factor made it an easy decision to thrown my own entry in. That is the match that I regard as my actual return to USTA tournament play. I am not sure why I systemically discount the Mother-Daughter play. PTSD, maybe
I won that tournament. My opponent from that event is now a very dear friend. Win-Win. My success at that tournament meant that the next time the Texas Section Office published the rankings lists, my name appeared on it. It was very exciting — right up until my competitive psyche noted the number of people listed above me. Game on.
Conveniently, there was a Senior Major Zone tournament in my local area a couple of months later. While I gained additional rankings points at that event, I ultimately wound up losing a match that I arguably should have won. Losing a winnable match was… very motivating.
Up until that point in time, the only tennis I was playing was with the umpire I gave birth to. That consisted primarily of standing flat footed at the net with a basket of balls as well as warming her up prior to her tournament matches. As it turns out, that is not a super effective way to prepare for tournament competition. Clearly something else was needed.
Wait…What Was the Question Again?
I started in on this self-indulgent walk down memory lane in response to an inquiry from the National Women’s Tennis Organization (NWTO) asking for information and suggestions from former junior players who stepped away from the sport and returned after an extended absence.
On the surface, it might seem like I was drawn back into tennis for the same reason I ever played in the first place. Specifically because I had a family member engaged in the sport. While there is truth in that assertion, I think that a more nuanced explanation.
The simple fact of the matter, as a parent of a child who played tennis, I was regularly in and around various tennis venues. Somehow in the process, opportunities for playing as an adult were never marketed directly to me. It is also possible that maybe there were some efforts that I completely missed. Even when I decided to return to play, it was challenging to figure out how to engage in competitive play as an adult.
Tomorrow I will dive fully into ideas for engaging former juniors as adults in tennis drawing from my own experiences. As I start to work through that thought exercise, I am haunted with the realization is that a subset of those players may already be hanging around tennis facilities. As a tennis community we might be missing an opportunity to engage those adults who are right there in plain sight.
