Adversity

We had a good win versus Heidelberg last night. Doubles set the tone with 8-1, 8-5, and 8-0 victories. Now we have to prepare for Ohio Wesleyan tomorrow (Saturday). The guys know we need to come out guns blazing in that one and I think we are ready.

Dealing with adversity and also dealing with success are two huge things you get out of competing in athletics. Can you bring yourself into focus when everyone in the crowd is rooting for you to fail? Can you, maybe accept is the wrong word, but deal with, and take as a positive challenge a coach’s decision not to start or play you? How do you continue to be relaxed when you know the score is tied and you are leading in the deciding match?

We work on these things as a team and by no means are they easy. Our group of young men have grown and matured greatly over the last two years. They have learned to accept challenges as positive experiences and not as obstacles. One of the greatest parts of my job is seeing this growth and helping to facilitate it. The young men who come and play tennis here at Oberlin WILL be successful in the fields they choose because they do embrace the challenges put before them and use those to propel them.

“Whether it’s playing or coaching, socially or professionally, there have to be some tough days to make you a better person.”

-Digger Phelps

Matches Have Started

The first match of the Spring season is in the books and we came out on the short end of a 7-2 decision. Senior captain Ben Godlove played well, getting wins in both singles and doubles. He and first-year Ben Turchin won a tough 9-7 victory after being down 5-7. It was an excellent gut-check for a team playing their first match together. The 7-2 team score is a little deceiving as well. We lost two 3-set singles matches and two of the other singles were close as well. Here is a link to the scores from the match.

We are better coming out of this match than we were going in to it. Practice last night had an even higher intensity than before because the guys see what we could accomplish and they want it.

We travel to Crawfordsville, IN this weekend to play Wabash and Elmhurst. This will be another good test for us as it is the first overnight trip of the year as well as the first double-header. I’m excited about the trip and think the guys are ready.

Spring (season) is here!!

It is spring again (although you can’t tell by looking outside)!! We are a week into practice and the guys are looking like they are ready for competition. We play Malone on Saturday, February 13^th at 1:30 and are looking for some good results. The beginning of our season is full with two more matches on the 20^th and starting with our Heidelberg match on February 25^th we have four matches in 10 days concluding with our parents’ weekend on March 6^th.

The team is primed and excited about a season where we expect to compete in every match.

“There’s a hell of a difference between doing it almost right and doing it right. The outcome of games, I think, are far more a result of mistakes than great plays.”

-Bobby Knight