For those of you involved in sports, you won't be surprised by what I'm about to blog. Wish I could say I was surprised but for me.....angry....worried....disappointed would be some of the words to describe my feelings. Here we go.....
While at home training, Natalie coaches and teaches some younger local players. This week she was asked to escort one of the players to a tourney here in Atlanta. She was to watch her player's match Friday evening, take her for dinner then to hotel for the night. Then on Saturday morning, warm her up and if time permitted, watch her match. Then I was to meet Natalie and we were to travel to UGA to watch the Tennessee ladies tennis play.
Let me share some facts....it was freezing Friday night....and if you know Natalie.....you know she doesn't "do cold"....a freezy cat if you will. So, she had several layers on and a hoodie. The hoodie's hood was on and pulled tight, so one could only see her face.
When I arrived on Saturday morning here is a good portion of the story I heard of the happenings of Friday night's doubles match. Natalie's student and her partner played doubles against a girl from Kentucky and one from Louisiana. Without alot of details....tooo hard to explain......"our team" hit a ball over the net, one of our gals said something like "watch out" (as if you are at the net, and you are bout to be killed with the ball...so watch out). The opponents missed the routine easy shot right into the bottom of the net. For the record, in doubles a partner can call out such as ours did.
Of course, the ones losing called an official over to argue their point. And in that argument changed the entire story of what happened, completely lying as to what happened. Unfortunately, the USTA official was inexperienced and didn't know the rules or how to handle the situation. According to Natalie after 15 minutes of sitting quietly.....she shouted out "good job <<insert her player's names here>> now let's play tennis"
Following Natalie's quest to get the match going by shouting out to those on the court. The two fathers of the opponents came to where she was sitting. One of the fathers sat behind her so closely that he was touching her. The other standing so closely he was touching her. In other words.....one BULLY from Kentucky and one BULLY from Louisiana. They started with let the players handle it on the court. They continued to threaten and berate Natalie. One continued with "I'm a USTA official, I know all the rules and you need to let them handle it."
Finally, the official came over and said that the girl who had been lying to the line judge in the first place, has "requested she (Natalie) leave" and refused to play until she had left. At this point Natalie removed herself from the situation, wanting to not be the sole focus and distraction for our girls. Let's keep in mind, she was there for those girls, not to be belittled and bullied by two parents. Besides our team was winning, correct and NOT CHEATING!
Natalie walked away and one of the dads followed her and when she stopped to stand, he stood right next to her ....soooo close that he was up against her. A bully indeed!
At one point Natalie asked them to step away from her and to stop threatening her or she would have to do something about it. Saying "I'm not here to deal with your shit". The response she got, "oooo you gunna cuss now, you gunna cuss now?". A convo that sheds light on the fact that they didn't know who Natalie was or her age.
As they walked away Natalie heard one of them say "it was a guy, the whole time I thought it was a girl". Obvious to Natalie that they thought she was a teenage boy that they could just bully into shutting up so they could help cheat their daughters way into victory.
First, I'm very proud that Natalie acted in the professional way that she did. Never allowing the BULLIES actions to influence her to go to their level. Setting a great example for her players and those that were around watching this all unfold. Second, I'm disappointed and angry that Natalie did not call the police once the BULLIES had her surrounded and threatened. Her personal safety was at issue and should have been her first priority. She should have had them arrested on the spot!
After hearing all this non sense I found myself with the need to speak to the tourney director. After explaining that the two BULLY dads had threatened Natalie and "her team", I voiced my concern about the upcoming singles match. You see, we were leaving and Nat's player was going to play one of the dubs opponents in singles. I asked that he keep an eye on Nat's player because she and Nat had been threatened the night before and now the player was nervous. That I didn't know if her parent was going to be back in time for the match and I was concerned for her safety. He promised he would keep her safe.
Upon our drive home from Athens, Natalie got a text message from the mom of her player. Asking if we were anywhere near the tourney because the girl was cheating in the singles match. That Nat's player was on the court crying because the opponent change the score "stealing" games from her. To shorten this long story....Nat's player bravely finished the match then withdrew from the back draw. The cheater won that singles match but boy are she and her dad LOSERS IN LIFE.
The only thing I can say is that we have seen this before. There was a well known cheater when Natalie was in junior tennis. People reported her, video taped her and submitted the tapes. She won matches while cheating but she didn't go far in the tennis world. Because the tennis world is so very small, word spreads fast......college coaches wouldn't touch her. Just like back then....the word is already spreading about this weekend. People are reaching out to us for the facts....and the facts as we see em....will be given. The truth will be told!
Please know that I'm trying to give the jest of what happened, our opinion of what happened. There is always two sides of the story and the witnesses....please feel free to contact any and or all of them! We welcome it....for the truth is the truth!
