I was speaking with my son André other day and somehow we got subject Celsius Tennis Academy as he was filling me in on some of the Celsius alumni that we mutually knew pretty well and spent quite a bit of time at our house in Sarasota.
André was a student at Celsius from the age of about 10 until he left for university on a D1 Tennis Scholarship to Georgia Southern University. That was his previous life, now he is living in Fort Lauderdale, working in marketing and thriving like most of his Celsius colleagues from all over the world. There really is a common bond between them and honestly a true theme of success both on and off on the court.
Andre at GSU. Luckily tennis is a life sport and he continues to still hit with his Celsius and Florida Tennis colleagues and his old man to this day.
Generations of Cary’s students are now thriving in life as surgeons, doctors, politicians, entrepreneurs, engineers, influencers and the list goes on. The one commonality they share is they are happy and contributing to the world around them. Not one student was ranked inside the ATP or WTA top 10, (yet). That was never the point. That’s not what Cary was about.
Cary was a great friend and mentor to my son André through the majority of his tennis career.
Early in our conversation I asked “how is it that most of your tennis alumni are all pretty successful and generally doing well and happy in life”? I hear from some of my friends how some of their children are struggling in the aftermath of COVID and now the economy and work challenges with AI.
What did these tennis kids receive that so many others didn’t?
That’s when it came full circle. Andre said “tennis really isn’t just something you just play, it’s more like something you are or become over time.”
That was a pretty big revelation for André and perhaps something that only reveals itself over time once you have a little more life experience.
At it’s core, Cary always believed that tennis was a powerful metaphor for life. He understood that the lessons learned through specifically through the individual sport of tennis brought forth some significant character traits that you get to practice the more you play and compete including— discipline, work ethic, responsibility, confidence, problem solving, self reliance, sportsmanship and perseverance—could become tools that young people carried with them long after they left the court.
In addition, learning how to lose predominantly by yourself and take responsibility and learn from this is an incredible advantage later in life that few athletes get to experience in the same way.
Move forward a decade and this is what they are now calling “Holistic Tennis”. Back then it was just what Cary believed: tennis at any level returned far greater dividends than stroke production, rankings and scholarships if you let it. That’s the magic of the sport.
When legendary coach Nick Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (NBTA) in Bradenton, Florida in 1978, Cary Cohenour, Anne White, Carling Bassett and Jimmy Arias were part of an elite, core group of inaugural student-athletes.
I can tell you with a great deal of certainty that what Cary believed has been proven before my eyes today and I’ll bet if you could survey the hundreds of parents that had a child in his program they would say the same thing.
Cary often said: “Do what you love and love what you do. Work hard. Respect yourself and others. The rest will follow.”
Cary was on to something and for that reason his father, Fay Cohenour, with the support of the Celsius coaches, the Florida tennis community, Boys and Girls Clubs formed the Cary Cohenour Tennis Foundation. Because something this good, is too important to let go.
Cary did a lot of heavy lifting for parents and helped shape each in their own way into who they are today. For that Cary we are eternally grateful and will never forget you!
