This past weekend I was a proud tennis mom. Both the girls played in their High School State Tennis Tournament. Let me back up a bit and give some back story on each.
So when Maddie was a Freshmen in High School, her volleyball coach and the athletic department in her school decided to start a tennis program. Before then Maddie had tinkered with a tennis racquet only because I was so involved in tennis but never played officially. She decided that she would play tennis for the school team and she would play doubles. Fast forward – her and her partner won the State Title in doubles. The next year, Maddie’s doubles partner went away to Boarding School so she decided to play singles. She made it to the State Tennis Tournament and lost in the first round to the girl who State that year. Now…. she was sad but only for a minute. After that minute passed, she was Determined. Determined to go back the next year and WIN.
For the 2024-2025 school year, EDS Tennis was blessed beyond measure to get a new tennis coach, Fernando, who is an amazing tennis player himself and who is also an amazing teacher of tennis. He not only coaches the team but both Maddie and Mia have been taking private lessons from him. (we will get to Mia shortly). He worked tirelessly with Maddie, he retooled her grip, worked on her strokes and helped us find the right racquet for her tennis.
Tennis season begins and Maddie is ready! First tournament she blows through her first 2 matches no problem. Then…. third match we have the girl that beat her and won State last year. Good match but she loses in the Semi Finals. This fuels her fire even more. She continues working. Next tournament, she wins overall but “the girl” isn’t at this tournament. Maddie keeps working. Finally it is time for the State Tennis Tournament. Maddie rolls through the bracket and her competition playing some great tennis and makes it to the Finals! And yes, you guessed it, her opponent is “the girl” – last year’s State Champion. Maddie played some amazing tennis! Her and Fernando talked strategy and she executed perfectly! She wins in a match tie break, coming back from being down 0-5! All her hard work pays off! She immediately comes off the court and looks for Fernando and cries tears of Joy. That is what Maddie is about – just pure Grit. Putting in the hard work for the end goal. That girl sets her mind to something and she goes after it! Now to go back and win it again. I hope she has realized how good of a tennis player she is and loves it as much as I do!
Now let’s get to Mia. Mia is also playing tennis as an 8th grader for the JV tennis team for EDS High School. Mia is focused on singles. Singles is a lonely sport… you are out there all by yourself grinding it out. Mia is emotional and when you are by yourself on the court it takes a level of mental toughness to get through some hard matches. As a 13 year old girl, mental toughness isn’t ….. well you know. lol Mia like most kids wants to win only so Fernando has been working with her not only on her technique but just having fun. I have been working on the difficult part of trying to toughen up a child who is very emotional connected to world – lol. Fast forward through many tennis lessons with Fernando – with tears – to the first tournament of the year. Mia loses her first match but in a match tie break – cries when she gets off the court then collects herself. Her next match she loses the first set and is down in the second and something kicks in and she mentally tells herself to dig deep. She wins in a match tiebreak! She played great tennis this day and Fernando helped her see the bigger achievements than just the win, even the achievements in the loss.
The next tournament, she lost her first match badly and again was emotional about losing. She dried her tears and got on the court for her 2nd match. This was an easier win from an obviously less skilled and younger player. Mia was so gracious on the court. She didn’t go all out because she didn’t need to and kept encouraging her opponent throughout the match. That’s a WIN beyond the score!
Mia also got to play in the State Tournament. Her first match was the girl she lost so badly to during the 2nd tournament. And sadly she lost again. But! Fernando helped her see the vast improvement in just a short time. She won more games, the rallies were longer, she pushed her to deuce more. And just like that she was smiling and high fiving. Overall she had a successful season and definitely saw some growth! Barbe High School tennis here we come!
There are so many valuable life lessons that Tennis teaches. Mia doesn’t realize it yet but she is learning Grit, mental toughness, how to fail and keep going until you get to success, how to be strategic, how to win and lose graciously and how to work hard. Her tennis is a work in progress but she is determined and has committed to playing 3 more tournaments this spring/summer (in exchange for another social media app) – I am not beyond leveraging the things she wants to keep her playing – lol
I tell my girls all the time – Tennis is a gift I am giving them. That gift as an adult, if they keep playing (I hope they do) will yield them a community of like minded people who will enrich their lives. Keep playing my girls… Keep playing..
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