A young man walked onto the tennis court with a big grin and little else to impress. He wasn't tall or athletic, in fact he was somewhat overweight, and extremely nervous, laughing and cutting up. Today was tryouts for the team, and newcomers had shown up in more numbers than usual. None owned a racquet, nor had ever had one in their hands before, but they all deserved a chance to try in the eyes of the coach. Joe had played tennis with his buds over the years, just for fun, with a less than fundamental style to his game. Having become friends with a woman, that happened to teach and coach, and that had a passion for both tennis and kids, he had learned a few things and knew that this was the way to teach the kids, the right way. The school wasn't the least bit interested in the tennis team, and had very little support or money for it, but they let it go along anyway, without paying much attention to it at all. Most of the funds and energy was applied to the football team, the athletes.
The athletes stood tall over the poor little tennis team kids, as they walked by in their cleats that made all they noise they needed, but they still hooted and laughed at the boys on the court, trying to make them feel as though they didn't count. The other coach, a woman about five foot one didn't mind so much, for now. Until the day, one of the football coaches, a teacher at the school walked by laughing and calling the boys ballerinas. For some reason that day, she minded. She minded a lot! Turning to the football coach she said, "So you think this is a game for sissy's, huh?" The coach laughed even harder and replied, "Yea it is, anybody can hit that little old ball." "Fine, then come on out here and see if you can beat me." she challenged. He laughed even harder as she stood on the court spinning her racquet to quiet the dragon within and staying calm, waiting for him to answer. The whole football team had witnessed the challenge and egged him on to take care of this little chick that had dared to challenge an athlete.
Joe stood by the gate with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning and rocking back and fourth on his heels. Finally the football coach had to save face and walked onto the court, sure that he would make quick work of this and stand taller in the eyes of his boys. Kids and coaches came in droves to see the match between the little chick and the coach. Joe still stood grinning, not saying a word to anyone. One of the tennis boys handed him a racquet, he twirled it and admired it, still laughing as though this was so silly he would surely beat this little woman, he was a man. Stronger and smarter...he thought.
The match began and the coach was running for all he was worth to try and get a point. The little chick barely moving as she maneuvered the ball and the coach all over the court, waiting for just the right moment to send it slamming onto the pavement for the point, leaving the coach out of breath and sweating profusely. They had agreed on one set to settle the point of sissy or not, and coach hadn't won a point yet, as the match proceeded. Unable to stop herself on the last point, she drove the ball home hard enough that it got stuck in the fence behind the coach. Dragging himself to the net to shake hands, he had stopped laughing.
"I apologize." he said. "I was wrong to make fun of this, it truly does take an athlete to play this game and you have taught me a valuable lesson today." She reached out her hand, "Thank you." Joe came over laughing hard, as the kids and coaches applauded loudly, "I should have told you, she taught me everything I know, and I knew she would wipe you off the court, but I needed the laugh today." He slapped the other coach on the back, turning to wink at the little chick. As they walked off the court, the team rushed to congratulate her. The crowd had learned a lesson that day that stayed with the school from then on, tennis was indeed a sport.
"Did you guys learn anything today?" she asked the team somberly. They all looked at each other as if to say they didn't know they would be tested on this. Finally one of the boys stepped forward, "It's knowing how to play, not how big you are." She smiled as Joe stepped forward, "If you can listen, you can learn. I did and I still learn from her every time I play. Now I am playing tennis tournaments instead of softball, it gets in your blood."
The young man that had come to tryouts just to be able to stay after school, came forward. "I think I want to be able to do that." He had originally thought that it would just be fun and he could just hang out with the guys, he had no idea of the work that he would soon be doing. But at least after the demonstration, he had a goal now. He too had viewed tennis as the sissy sport, until today.
In the weeks that followed they all worked hard, with good days and bad days. As it turned out the young man that had come for the wrong reasons that day, wasn't eligible to play the matches because of his grades. He had worked hard at learning to play, but not hard enough on his grades and was sorely disappointed as he sat on the bench an cheered his teamates on. The little coach begged Joe to let him stay on the team, even though it wasn't supposed to be allowed. She knew that this young man needed the confidence he had gained through the sport to know that he had value and still he had a ways to go. Joe agreed to let him stay, knowing that tennis was the only thing keeping him in school.
On this particular year, tennis was the only sport that made it all the way to the State Finals. The whole school had a new found respect for the sport they had ignored and looked down on for so long every time they passed by the case that held the tall trophy.
The next year the young man came back to play again, with the grades to allow him to belong and play matches. He had found value in himself. This young man had been high on the list of At Risk Kids, but through the sport of tennis he graduated with a Most Improved Tennis trophy in his hands too. He had earned it and it felt good to succeed. Through the years he always had a special hug for that little chick that showed him how and allowed him the time to find out that he could win, not only in tennis, but in school.
He wasn't the first or the last kid that found their way through the game of tennis on those courts, but he was one of the special ones. Oh, and by the way, the basketball team had a newfound respect for tennis and several of them joined the team to prepare for basketball, with the encouragement from the football coach that had lost.
Coaching has it's own set of rules sometimes, winning. For others the win isn't so important, it's how to teach kids to find themselves in anything. A life lesson learned, is the real win.
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