On Friday, Pluskota/Lumpkin fell to the one seeds in a solid battle to move on. Ending Nat's tournament play in Raleigh. And sights targeting the next week.
On Saturday, Natalie was able to travel a very short distance to UNC (shout out just for you Sanaz), to watch the Lady Vols tennis team take on UNC for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16. Although there was a plane to catch, Nat was able to watch a good portion of the match. UNC prove to be too tough for UT, but was a good battle.
So very proud of Kata, who joined the 100 Club with her win in doubles yesterday. She just graduated two weeks ago, a good leader, player and awesome young lady who will be missed. It takes a special person to give selfishly to a team, for the betterment of the team. Kata was always a team player the reason she was sooooo successful in college tennis.
...I'm climbing on my soapbox....
Something most PARENTS and players do not "get". In the world of junior tennis, players are taught ....me...me....me, the person on the other side of the net is the enemy. Then these players go to college and now have team mates, some of which were "the enemy".
Unfortunately, the PARENTS and players continue to treat them as "the enemy", instead of as a team mate. Which divides the team and therefore the team fails, and so do the individuals. A player CAN NOT be successful in college tennis without two things.....their team mates and being a good doubles player.
So PARENTS....allow your child to play doubles at EVERY junior tournament and don't pull them out of dubs because your child is "out" of singles. AND....when parenting your child on a college team do so with the TEAM in mind.....NOT... what can I manipulate on my child's behalf. FOR your player can not and will not be successful in college without their team mates. For example....a player's ranking in college goes up with good wins at the big tournaments....well your player can't get to those tournaments unless the Team's ranking is high enough. Therefore, the players NEED each other to get to the top. And that attitude begins with the PARENTS!
I highly recommend to parents to allow your player to play other team sports. Allow them to learn how to be a good team member. Junior tennis is an individual sport, college tennis is a TEAM sport.
.....I'm climbing off my soapbox....
Natalie traveled to Landisville, PA on Saturday. Only after a few panicked stricken moments. Poor thing, I guess she mixed up two lovely housing families and was in a fury trying to straighten out prior to boarding her flight. Another lesson learned. She has safely arrived in PA and is enjoying her new host family. Nat is in the main draw of this 10K tourney, so the leg has time to continue to heal. She will begin play either tomorrow or Wednesday. Until then it will be the practice court and community outreach projects.
Once the main draws for singles and dubs are released later, I will post the happenings.....until then ....Love and Blessings.....Sherry!
