My first experience coaching an actual team was in '07 when I filled in for Mrs Smith who was taking the fall off due to the birth of her second child. I was skeptical at first, as I was only going to be there a season, and wondered how much I could really get accomplished in 4 months. So knowing that, and then taking the job and responsibility of a team, I jumped in with gusto. I knew I had to work hard and fast, with purpose, if my time there was to mean anything for the future.
This was my first note(see below), before emails or blogs, that I ever wrote to some of the members on the team at the end of the '07 season. I used to photo copy articles back then, and give them to the team once a week. The Heights AD Joe Cramp, always looked at me funny as I sat in his office burning through his printer ink. Mr Eppright, the boys soccer coach, was equally annoyed, as all he wanted to do was make a few copies.
Anyway the girls and I had our ups and downs, as some of you may imagine. I was only doing what I thought and know to be right, even if they didn't see it at the time. I'm doing it the same way right here and right now. I wanted to make tennis a bit more relevant to them. I wanted them come to practice everyday and work hard, even if some had taken different paths to get to tennis. I knew tennis may not have been their first choice, or first sport.
I established a goal of making the playoffs in '07, which we did and won a round. I hoped that would help them start to see the sport of tennis as desirable thus could be a fulfilling conduit toward team and individual goals. I wanted their hearts in the sport, with me knowing that they could have a skill and experience that was worth more than I could clearly show them at that moment.
The honest truth is that these girls had more heart and determination than I initially gave them credit for. I thought they had some, but like you guys at times, I would leave practice thinking that they may not had thought the experience that useful or meaningful. I kept at it and tried to motivate them by various means. By the end of that season I began to see that heart and determination come out on the court. I could start to see some confidence being projected and a little brashness, which I hope would rub off from me to them. It was the last match against Audubon, a match we lost earlier that season. They were starting to believe, so I decided I needed to set a goal for them to work towards next year, as the baton was going to be passed back to Mrs. Smith.
I penned the short letter and gave it to Jackie, Gina, Alex and Kara, at the season's end Colonial Conference tournament. The letter references a Courier Post article that details all the high school tennis teams vying for South Jersey Sectional Championships, that fall of '07. The article isn't included here.
This was the last time I had the privilege of calling myself their coach. I gave the letter to them along with a three ring binder, that they would put the accumulation of the season's 'tennis articles' in, which I had them bring that day. The binder could protect them for the future. I was really curious to see who had actually saved them and who had not or used them as scrap paper. Each one had saved all their articles, which was impressive.
They are a very special group of young ladies, that I will never forget. They truly taught me more than I ever taught them. I just lit a little spark. I fanned that spark in various ways till my last moment there. The next year, as you'll read in the Philadelphia Inquirer article here, they carried the torch the hard final leg, in the clutch as the underdog. They upset the #2 seed Haddon Township at their place, as such was a big obstacle for them the previous year.
I remember quickly exiting after they won the match, leaving them and their coach to celebrate. I was so excited, running away from the courts and down the street, that I forgot where I parked my car. They then won their semi-final match 4 days latter at Middle Township. They finished their run against Haddonfield, in the '08 SJ Group 2 Final. This wasn't a tennis match per say, but a deserved moment in the sun and a celebration of a team and their journey.
They had made history for their school's tennis program, and got a great article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. This helped substantiate that someone did notice their accomplishments. It also laid proof that what they were doing as a tennis team, and what I was trying to encourage them towards did really matter. This article was in the paper the same day the Phillies won the National League Pennant in '08. I thought this was doubly cool, as many people would have read the 'Inky' that day.
