My journey on my high school tennis team has been a peculiar one. Going into my freshman year I was touted as one the stellar players, one who was on the path straight to varsity. Unfortunately, I tore one of the ligaments in my right wrist and was sidelined for the months right before the tennis season. Going into my season, my confidence was low, I was worried about making the junior varsity team. I would end up making JV but not varsity. The next year I was back with more determination. Injury free, I had high expectations but lacked confidence. As I entered try-outs, I was shocked. My teammates were waiting for me. Each one of them came up to me and told me that they knew I was going to play this year, and that I was going to live up to
This camp has given me so much joy and persuaded me to love the sport. As the summers went on, I made my way up to the top court for my seventh-grade year; I finally caught the coach’s attention which led me to create a fine bond with him. This relationship has also helped me have an advantage going into tryouts. Going into high school, the same tennis coach reached out to me to have me practice with them in the morning. This message gave me a boost of confidence and reassurance of how far I’ve genuinely come and the progress I’ve made.
“Vivian, we are the only two returning players on the team next year”, my co-captain for the Mira Mesa High School Tennis Team notified me.
As far as most people are concerned, every school tennis court is pretty much the same. The only prominent difference is the surface, whether it is a hard court, clay, or even grass. While I was a member of the Brewer High School Tennis team, I can recall vivid details of the time I spent participating in inter-school scrimmages and district tournaments as well as the other teammates involved. The tennis court I played on was surrounded by a steel, vinyl coated chain-link fence with aged and weathered benches located in the outer boundaries of the court. In addition, the surface of the court was coated with a green, acrylic paint with white boundary lines painted where necessary. There was one practice session where I accepted a challenge to
Being ranked number one on the Vacaville High School Varsity Tennis Team was one of the most mentally challenging events during high school. I love tennis, but it was very difficult balancing all of my Advanced Placement classes, trying to having some sort of a social life and playing tennis year-round all at the same time. The only reason being number one was mentally challenging was because I was losing most of of my matches. I thought about quitting the tennis team more times than I could count. It was my first year playing in the number one spot and I was not ready to play against such high-level tennis players. I knew that if I didn't show up we would lose because the rest of the team would have to play against a player that is one level
Sophomore year came, and I was nervous because now there was jv dark and varsity to worry about. I came to tryouts, and gave all my effort on volleyball as well as my friends. They had made the teams, and I never expected to be in jv dark. My best friends didn 't made it to jv dark but I couldn 't miss this opportunity. In addition, I was depressed that I could not be with them, but I needed to be in a team that I knew it was going to help me become better. It surely did because now there was more tasks that I could do. My serves were something no one could receive. Consequently, the only horrible part of jv dark is that I never had the chance to play. I came to practice everyday and I followed instructions, I never complained if we ran, but the coach never showed me that I could be in the court. I did showed her, I tried to show off my abilities in volleyball for her to notice. As a result to that she always put me aside. In effect of this, it brought me down I
It is my junior year of high school and basketball season is right around the corner. I am on the verge of either making varsity or junior varsity this year depending upon my skills. Went through the tryouts and was able to make the junior varsity again for my second year with coach Maloney. I was all excited to play there again seeing I was one out of the three kids that made it back there again. From there it was Cam, Anthony, and I who thought would lead the team because we were the only ones who knew how to run Maloney’s offense and defense well that’s what I had thought was gonna be the case but in reality it wasn't. I thought I would be a starter for the team, but in reality I ended up being a bench player or how I thought of it as a
I became so much better than I was the year before that I was able to join the team at districts that year. I may still had have my sister's hammy downs, but I was more confident and more skilled in the game. Each year I got better with more experience, and became higher on the list of players on the team. Sadly after a couple of tournaments during the golf season junior year, I severely injured my wrist. I pulled a tendon, had a gap between my growth plates, and lost blood flow to a bone just in one wrist. I was out of the game for six months with tons of physical therapy, but what my failure from seventh grade had taught me was not to give up. During the time of my injury I helped the team by coaching them during practice and being a cheerleader. I may not have been able to play, but at least I was there for the team and gained some more knowledge of the sport from watching. Right after my injury was healed I went right back to practice. I know have arthritis in my wrist and there are days that I can not practice because it hurts, but I pushed through it. The whole year was hard on me but I was able to make the team again. This year I am no longer in the top five of the team, but I am still able to play and help the team
As a member of the Varsity tennis team, I am no stranger to facing what seem to be impossible odds. Being a singles player, during a match it is all on me to figure out what is going wrong and make the adjustments to fix it. Halfway through a match, I found myself down one set to none against the seventh ranked team in the state. The break in between sets is time to reflect on the same thus far, and to think about what you are doing right and what you aren’t doing so well. At this point in the game, I was down on myself and I couldn’t get anything in my arsenal of shots going. Instead of continuing to try to hit shots that I hadn’t hit all game, I decided to go back to the basics and try to gain some confidence in my shots. My main goal was
Everyone knows that there is always a risk to playing a sport. You put so much hard work and effort in to maybe make the team. From eighth grade to the end of the first semester of my junior year, all of my time was devoted to volleyball. Basically any free time I had I was at private lessons or a skills camp. I put so many hours into this sport that I forgot about other things in my life that are important. Up until the club season of my junior year, I have never been cut from a team and I felt confident that I would not ever because I have already made it that far, but all it takes is one bad night to throw all your hard work away. The night of club season tryouts for 2014 I simply could not focus and was overall out of it. I got cut and to say I was devastated is an
A serious student with the talent and will to succeed, Brandon has distinguished himself among his classmates because of his positive attitude and the determination to give his best in all areas of his life. Whether it’s leading the high school tennis team or completing the final touches on a school presentation, Brandon finds the extra 10% when has already given it 100%. A scholar, athlete, musician, and citizen, Brandon demonstrates determination and leadership in each role.
In my freshman year of high school I made the freshman baseball team, a couple weeks into the season I received news that I was being promoted to the JV team. I was so excited I was gonna be able to play at the next level. That night I played in my last game on the freshman team and I broke my thumb after a bad hop. I was devastated when the doctor gave me the news that I’d be out for the season and in a cast for the next month. Soon after my coaches heard the news, I was sent back to the freshman team. After playing out all the hypothetical ways approaching the next few months could have gone for me I decided right then I was going to go to every practice and game to help my team even though I physically wasn't able to. At the team banquet
I played tennis through junior high school. I hated running. Because I tired running easily. But I like plaing tennis. Because I am not tired playing tennis. But I limited body power when I became high school. As soon as, I began body power training. It seems that I am fine begin body power training. Because I was stong tennis. Also, I am useful on the life because I began body power training. Now, I continuing body power
My family and I just arrived at the campus of the University of Illinois. The school sent my sister a letter, asking her if she wanted to come down for a visit. Once we got there she met the coaches and the teammates who were very friendly. After that she played a scrimmage game with the team. I was surprised how fast they were running up and down the court. They were also very loud and vocal. It was like standing at a rock concert. Sitting their and watching her keep up with the older girls showed me how much hard work she put into the sport.The next day when we got home my sister told us everything about the coaches and how much loved the school. Tonight was the night she would decide which college to go to. Her and my dad went through the
Basketball was my favorite sport growing up. I’ve played since I was little and I still play the game today. I played basketball at my elementary school, St. Cecilia, from Kindergarten till 8th Grade and also played AAU basketball for about 2 years before entering High School. Going into my freshmen year of High School, the first sport I played was basketball. Tryouts began in about the start of November and ended about 2 weeks after. I had made the Freshmen A team. I was excited and as the season progressed, we didn’t win many games but I still had fun playing. Nearing the end of the season, golf was another sport coming up that I also wanted to try and play. I say “try and play” because at the time, I was also going to play AAU basketball. I had set in my mind that I was going to play basketball for all of my four years of high school, but my parents pushed me to tryout for golf. When the basketball season ended, golf tryouts started. Tryouts lasted for about 2 weeks, and I made the JV team. When I found out I made the team, I was very surprised. I hadn’t put in the hard work as others before tryouts came around, but the coach saw potential in me and that I can become a great player. The coach saw so much potential in me, that every week, I kept progressing in skill and fine tuning my mechanics. Halfway through the season, about 4 or 5 weeks after I made the team, my coach gave me the chance to play with the Varsity Golf team for a couple days. I was excited and eager to
“Oh no, please don’t tell me this is happening. Mom, can I just skip this tournament?” I pleaded, “There is absolutely no hope for me.” Being the dramatic person I am, I lamented the imminent end of my tennis career. I went into the tournament with an expectation of failure. I started the match by accidentally whacking the ball over the fence, tripping on my own feet rushing to end the point. The little confidence I had when going into the match dissipated within a few minutes. I continued the match pondering how to angle my racket to put spin on the ball. Every time I failed, I blamed it on the high skill level of my opponent. Unsurprisingly, I lost in an hour. When looking back on that match, I realized that it could have gone differently had I not brought myself down before. My lack of