During the 2015 summer, I didn’t even want to play tennis, and I couldn’t even hit one tennis ball over one tennis net. A year later, I’m finally on the Gorzycki tennis team. My goal over these last 10 months was to make the team first. But there’s a lot more to it than just hitting a ball over a net.

I gained experience from learning the game as the manager for the team last year, but I knew I didn’t want to be there from the start. Over the summer, I wanted to pursue one of my favorite sports I learned from my mother, who was a star in high school herself.

I started participating in camps at South Austin Tennis Academy and took private lessons to get better before the upcoming tryouts. I played in matches and practiced with other players at South Austin. I realized SATA would benefit me for now, so I decided to take the opportunity, and it sure has paid off.

I thank my coach Connor Bond for finding a way to improve my game. Even as a tall and powerful player himself, he told me there is always room for improvement in anything you do, especially in tennis. From there I decided to work on simple fundamentals and make sure I did it the right away so that I could move on to things I had never worked on.

I am still learning about new strategies whenever I play matches as I progress, because I know I will never play someone with the same tennis game every match. I have figured out my strengths and weaknesses, but I know I will be ready when I step on that court for my first match.

I’m no ordinary tennis player who goes out just to win, I’m a tennis player willing to have fun and do my best.

No matter how well I do during tennis season, I know what I have done to get to where I am now, and I’m glad I didn’t lose hope in myself, or else I might have not even been on the team and not play tennis as much. But guess what? I can actually hit a ball over the net.