Opportunities American Kids Take For Granted
For the past 10 years I have been writing articles for Florida tennis magazine from time to time. During this time I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing kids and have developed life long relationships with the families of these student athletes. Tennis has offered many of my past student athletes the path to incredible opportunities and several have gone on to become extremely successful in there fields of work. Most of whom have been American.
Recently we have added housing and schooling to my program to bring in the growing number of foreign student athletes that want to come over and have the chance to play college tennis here in the states. Having lived abroad for several years of my youth I was comfortable with this opportunity for my program. I understand what it’s like to have to adjust to a foreign country and adjust to another culture. My first group of student athletes arrived from Serbia 2 months ago and let me tell you these guys where all business from day 1.
Don’t get me wrong they have there temper tantrums they have all the normal insecurities that American kids have but at the end of the day they appreciate the chance they have to attend an American university and possibly play college tennis. When you come from a smaller country and in some instances have to deal with adversity head on at a young age you grow up fast and tend to have a better understanding of what life might throw at you as an adult. It’s my hope that in the future we can make our American kids understand this especially since I am so closely affiliated with the USTA and also want to see American tennis take a turn in the right direction! I feel we can and will do this! This doesn’t mean just at the the top level but at every level!
