Lightening Online

Lleyton had a big day of tennis on Sunday.  We entered him a tournament in a regional centre a couple of hours from here.  We’re not spoilt for choice when it comes to tennis opportunities around here and it’s not easy to make it to those tournaments.

He had a WONDERFUL day with LOTS of tennis.  He played in the 11&Under singles (and finished as runner up) and the 13&Under singles (got into the top 4 and only lost that game 5-6 so it was close) and 13&Under doubles (they came runners up there too).

Here he is with his 2 runner up trophies:

He also won a free pizza (think that was almost more popular than the trophy!!!!).  At the start of the day he was hoping to get 1 runner up so he could go home with a trophy so he was stoked to end up with 2!!!!

I was happy for him (what parent doesn’t want their kid to be happy) but the highlight of the day happened when he recognised the value of keeping his cool during a game.

He was playing a tough opponent in the 13U singles comp and lost the first 2 games in close competition.  He then admits he gave the 3rd game away because he lost his cool.  Farmboy and I were really concerned watching his behaviour on court.  It was subtle but we don’t want him to become the kind of player who shows poor sportsmanship when losing.

However, he pulled himself out of that and ended up winning 6-3.  The beauty of it all was that he watched his own opponent gradually lose it and could really see the value of keeping your cool even when losing.  It was an awesome lesson and I was so proud of him (it’s not easy to pull yourself out of that personal frustration).

At that moment, he was going home a winner no matter the outcome of the rest of his games.

On Tuesday, he had the Grand Final games for his Junior Tennis local comp.  His team made it into the top 2.  They played the top 2 off for first and second and the next 2 off for 3rd and 4th (the 5th team was eliminated).

Here he is in action:

The competition was close all the way and ended up coming down to the outcome of his game.  Lleyton plays position 1 for his team so his game was left until last.  At that point, the teams were drawn.

I was concerned for him being under pressure but I don’t think he knew.  All the kids lined up along the court to watch the finish of the game (thankfully he’d been playing with an audience over the weekend so was used to an audience).

I think it ended up working in his favour as it made his opponent more nervous than it did him.

He ended up winning 3-1 to take out the championship for his team!

The winning team all got given a medallion:

Cute, isn’t it?

And it’s not over yet.  This weekend he has a finals comp for Senior Tennis.  They finished the season 4th so I guess they’re going into this game the underdogs.  Who knows though?  They’ve beaten this team before so I guess it’s anyone’s game.

If they win, they go into the next final.  If not, that’s the end of Senior Tennis for the year.

…. To be a “tennis mum”.

This week has been somewhat of an eye-opener so far.

It’s one thing to be told of the kids who cart around massive tennis bags with multiple raquets and tennis mum’s who push their kids to achieve.

It’s another to see it first hand.

Some people just live, eat and breathe tennis.

And the money that must go into it!!!!

It’s unreal.

And some of these kids are just AWFUL!!!!  Arrogant and nasty.

Not all of course but enough that I really wouldn’t want Lleyton to be spending too much time around them. 

We’re very much the “poor country cousins” down here.

I’m kind of hoping that we do badly enough to be placed in the other group of teams next year.  Not sure what it will take for that to happen though.

I was told that they have “divisions” but it’s not quite like that.  It just so happens that the Adelaide teams that play here have pretty much all the states top players.  The country teams get divided up and sent to different “sections” of Adelaide.  I think we kind of drew the “short straw” having to play where we are.

HOWEVER…

It has been an amazingly challenging experience for Lleyton.

I think his tennis has really improved having to play against such well trained and experienced players.

Here he is with his doubles partner after they have just had to play a couple of the state team.  They were ecstatic because they actually managed to get a game from them (they lost 6-1).  A pretty awesome effort from a couple of “country kids”.

It’s really cute watching them play together.  They’re both tiny compared to most of the other kids and out on the court, they’re not that easy to tell apart.

I’m just so proud of Lleyton’s sportsmanship.  He hasn’t been playing at his best and has struggled not to get down on himself but he keeps pulling himself out of it and playing on.  I really think his tennis game will benefit from this experience.  And he keeps encouraging other team members and even his opponents when they play good shots.

I’m proud of me too because I managed to drive over here and drive in Adelaide.  Something I haven’t done for very MANY years.  I always avoid it.  I’m still kind of avoiding it as we’re staying close to the courts but it’s a start.

I think I might collapse in a heap when we get home though.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Lleyton does too!!!

Lleyton had a much awaited moment today.

He got to try out for Sapsasa Tennis.

He has been waiting a couple of years now in the hopes that he might make it when he finally got to year 6 (most Sapsasa sport is for years 6 & 7).

Talk about a nail-biting day!!!

We were warned that they give preference to year 7 students so him being only year 6, we really had no idea how much of a chance he had of making the team.

When we arrived, some of the parents were saying the turn-out was particularly good this year for the try-outs.

That only made me more nervous!

In fact, I think I was more nervous than Lleyton.

He really enjoyed his day which is really the main thing.  It’s a great experience and we haven’t yet entered him in any tournaments so it was good exposure to a tournament type setting.

He particularly enjoyed playing a really good player as it really challenged his game and he felt his game improved.

I was so proud of his attitude all day.  He kept so positive about his own game as well as that of his opponents.  It was very special to watch.

And HE GOT IN!!!!

He was STOKED!!!!!

I think he’s still flying high.

He’s number 3 in the team which is a great achievement for him.

Particularly give that positions 1 & 2 were pretty much already set by a couple of AMAZING players that also played last year.

So, we are off to Adelaide in a couple of weeks.

Looks like I’ll be taking him as Farmboy seems to think he really should do a few days work sometime now that we’re back.  Eek!!!  I have to drive in the city!!!!  The things we’ll do for our children!!!!

Yesterday I made my debut as a Ball Girl, picking up tennis balls at Lleyton’s first private tennis coaching lesson.

We’ve been struggling with what to do about Lleyton’s interest and ability in tennis. One of the disadvantages of living in a rural location is that lack of access to things like regular tennis coaching or clinics. So when we came across this coach who lives in a town less than 200km away, we decided to give him a go.

The lesson went very well. This guy is very passionate about tennis and seems to really know his stuff. Apparently Lleyton picked up on the new techniques quite quickly and the guy said he got further in the one lesson than he had expected to.

So the plan at this stage is to proceed with more private lessons as we (and the coach) can fit them in (he being so far away makes it a little more complicated). Then next tennis season we’ll enter him in a couple of tournaments and see how he fares against other “tennis fanatics”. At this stage, he’s only played locally.

Cost will be the next hurdle. Yes, he has some talent and is very passionate about his tennis. But how far do you go as a parent in helping a child realise their dreams? It’s important that we balance the needs and desires of all 3 children, plus our own of course.

It’s not just the cost of lessons either, it’s travel and equipment. One of the first things the coach mentioned was that he’ll need a new tennis racquet. The one we have was bought at a proper tennis store a few years back but as he grows, we knew we’d need to upgrade. If we want to get serious about his opportunities with tennis then we need to look at the more expensive end of the market when it comes to racquets.

The good thing about all this is that at this stage, we’re talking a new racquet and a few lessons and to see where that takes us. In the meantime, he’s having fun and it will be a good skill for him to learn. He’s amazing when it comes to teaching others so I can see him having a future in tennis coaching himself at some point in time.

I’m not sure where this journey is going to lead us, or how far along the track we’ll manage to travel.  It does feel good to at least have gotten this far (in finding a coach for him).  At least we can start to get a better idea of what his potential is and hopefully open a few doors for him.

One thing I do know.  I can see a lot of ball “picking up” in my “not to distant” future!

It’s been quite a big week or so for Lleyton when it comes to tennis.

A little over a week ago he played Senior Tennis with Farmboy and they won their doubles 6-0 6-0. Both then went on to win their singles 6-0. At the moment they’re both just filling in when the team needs extra players. That seems to be most weeks.

Wednesday after school, Lleyton had Junior Tennis and they held a mini-tournament which he finished top. Apparently he won 3-0 the whole way through.

Friday night they were again asked to play for our local club. This time at positions 9 & 10 instead of 11 & 12 where they had been playing. A bit more of a challenge for Lleyton.

Before the games began, I took some photographs of Lleyton in action. He was concerned I would put him off his game trying to take photographs of him in action so we did the photographs during a warm up hit.

I have others but I’m having trouble with photo editing this morning and at this rate I’ll not get ANY housework done! LOL. This is my favourite though.

In a strange twist of events Lleyton ended up playing his singles at number 7!!!! He didn’t win but it was a great challenge for him.

In an even STRANGER twist of events (both of them related to one another), I ended up playing my first game of tennis - EVER!!!

Who in their right minds decides “okay, I’ve never played a game of tennis before - why not start with competitive tennis?????????????????”.

Obviously I wasn’t in my RIGHT MIND!!!!

In my defence, I did say NO 3 times before my sense of “wanting to be helpful” overcame my “you have GOT to be kidding me!” reaction.

There was a mix up which left us 1 player short. Just as they were about to forfeit one game (well, one doubles and one singles), I asked the dreaded question. “Will it help if I play even I’m really REALLY bad at this?” They told me yes so I said I’d do it.

Having NO IDEA about the game of tennis, I had this brilliant theory that I could just “pretend” to be playing. Particularly in the doubles game where my partner could just do all the playing for me, right?

If I KNEW enough about tennis to realise I would HAVE to serve and receive served balls, I think I might have said NO a 4th and 5th time.

WHAT a disaster!!!

We started out with a few hits and the balls I was hitting were going EVERWHERE except on the court. One even got stuck on the roof. How humiliating!!!!

And did I mention that they failed to tell me I’d have to play at number 8????

Who knows what my doubles partner thought but he was very nice and very helpful and encouraging. And I did improve as the game wore on (not enough but an improvement nonetheless). And our opponents were friends so they went easy on me (and allowed me to serve underarm since I have NO IDEA how to serve!)

Farmboy was still playing doubles while all this took place and got quite a shock that I agreed to play. I don’t blame him really. He’s been trying to get me playing tennis our whole married life. He even bought me a tennis racquet quite a few years back that has hardly been used (I’ve had the occasional hit with it - mostly with the younger 2 kids). I still didn’t get to use my racquet in the doubles game as Farmboy was using it (his is stuffed).

When their doubles game was finished, Lleyton gave me a few handy pointers from the sidelines. I thought he did really well. He didn’t keep yelling instructions at me. Just made a couple of comments that were quite helpful (like hit the ball with the centre of the racquet and use 2 hands to hit a backhand). He’s planning on teaching me to serve properly which will be nice.

Some juggling was done so that I could play singles at number 12. Which is why Lleyton ended up playing at number 7. Farmboy was supposed to but he went straight into his singles without realising things had been changed around. Which meant Lleyton had to do it.

Singles was a lot of fun once I got used to the idea that I didn’t have a partner to do all the hard work for me. I even managed to win 1 of the games (so the final score was 6-1). And I learnt a bit more on how to score. I had a very patient and kind opponent which made it more fun.

You thought this post was all about Lleyton and his tennis didn’t you? LOL.

I did have a LOT of laughs (at my own expense) and discovered that I actually like the game of tennis. Not that I expect to have anyone banging down my door begging me to play for them. LOL. But it’s something fun we can do as a family and up until Friday night, I was the only one in the family with absolutely zero interest in playing.

Alright, back to Lleyton now.

On Sunday afternoon he had the opportunity to go to a tennis coaching clinic. We’ve been trying to work out how to get him some actual coaching so were very pleased when a friend was able to organise this opportunity for him. It looks like it’s going to open some doors to some ongoing coaching for him which will be great.

So, I can see a LOT more tennis taking place in our not too distant future. Perhaps it’s about time I learnt the rules of the game.

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