A letter to you baby tennis players
Dear 18-year old,
Well, this can be directed to 19, 20, 21 & 22 years olds as well as recent collegiate tennis players.
Do you really enjoy traveling to these tennis clubs to play in a league that is mostly made up of 30 and over women players?
Let’s say it takes you 30 minutes to get to the club. Wait, did you finish your homework yet? You know you have a test in the morning.
Alas, I digress.
There are three possibilities of not playing on a women’s league team:
- Your high school coach is playing doubles on the other court
- Your dad has to drive you to your matches
- Your college dorm has an 11:00 p.m. curfew on weeknights.
OK, a 30-minute drive. Then it takes 45 minutes, maybe 55, to beat the pants off your opponent. Oh, yeah, and that time frame includes the warm-up, spinning for serve, running to the bathroom to check your SnapChat.
Are these matches just play time to practice your different strokes? Do you enjoy playing cat and mouse in singles? Do you literally lose a game here and there so you don’t go up on your tennis rating? That’s just plain rude and childish.
Yes, it’s true. Every now and then you may come across a 50+ year old that hits a softer ball, has different spin that you may have never encountered before. It may take you up to 4 -5 games to adjust, then you just hit the snot out of the ball to finish the match. FINE. Oh, wait, you may just come across a D1 volleyball player that can snap that ball over the fence now and then. HA.
There are leagues for 45 and over, 55 and over. Maybe you should petition for a 25 and under league.
Until this league is formed, I understand you want to play somewhere. Every now and then, you will come across someone that can beat you. HA! (again)
I think as one of the “elders” in women’s league tennis that a rule of thumb should be “If you’re not old enough to drink, you are not old enough to play women’s league tennis.”
Sincerely,
A really old player