Narrative Essay: The Battle Of Alexander Dawson School

On the afternoon of August 8th, 2016 a young girl was facing the tennis match of her life. The Girls 14s Nationals were coming to a close and the championship trophy was only 3 games and 1 set away. Everything she had dreamed for was so close, yet so far. The extremely sunny sky glared into her eyes, making it impossible to think. But she couldn’t lose hope now, if she won this match, she would be crowned the Girls 14s Nationals Champion for Tennis. All she had to do was clutch this game. Just a few more points…

“Oh no, please don’t tell me this is happening. Mom, can I just skip this tournament?” I pleaded, “There is absolutely no hope for me.” Being the dramatic person I am, I lamented the imminent end of my tennis career. I went into the tournament with an expectation of failure. I started the match by accidentally whacking the ball over the fence, tripping on my own feet rushing to end the point. The little confidence I had when going into the match dissipated within a few minutes. I continued the match pondering how to angle my racket to put spin on the ball. Every time I failed, I blamed it on the high skill level of my opponent. Unsurprisingly, I lost in an hour. When looking back on that match, I realized that it could have gone differently had I not brought myself down before. My lack of

Round one of this season's Rutherford County Championship goes to R-S Central (4-3, 1-3), who got past Chase 26-7 last Friday. It was Central's rushing game led by Tyrese Tate that led them to four touchdowns on the ground and well over 250 yards in that category. Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers defense allowed just over 30 yards rushing on the night. Chase (2-6, 0-5) was their own worst enemy with penalties and just not executing when in dire need of doing so.

Being ranked number one on the Vacaville High School Varsity Tennis Team was one of the most mentally challenging events during high school. I love tennis, but it was very difficult balancing all of my Advanced Placement classes, trying to having some sort of a social life and playing tennis year-round all at the same time. The only reason being number one was mentally challenging was because I was losing most of of my matches. I thought about quitting the tennis team more times than I could count. It was my first year playing in the number one spot and I was not ready to play against such high-level tennis players. I knew that if I didn't show up we would lose because the rest of the team would have to play against a player that is one level

With about 30 minutes of a quick break Coach Gad gathered us into the hallway for a congratulations and another motivation speech. From what I can remember of the speech it had a lot to do with how everyone doubted us and no one believed we could make this far. After hearing this I and probably everyone else got this huge spark of fire ready to win the championships. As we made our way back to the gym the buzzer buzzed and the game was about to begin. The team we were playing was Marlboro one thing everyone knew about this team was the had this star player named Grace who basically was the whole team. Every set was basically for her for her and every dig she seemed to get. Knowing this made ourselves play smart and try our hardest not to spike the ball to her. We were serving first Alyssa gave a beautiful float serve that Grace passed and spiked which gave Marlboro the first point. Losing the first point didn’t break our confidence, throughout the entire set the points were coincidently going back and forth. A key play in the first set was when Grace was approaching for a spike Megan roofed her. Everyone who was cheering for us went crazy you could feel the floor shaking from our screams. Even with our enthusiasm Marlboro was determined to win the first set 25 to

Sports often puts another commonly accepted misconception to rest: that we should forget about our failures. Regardless of its outcome, that fateful match had been the best performance of our team of the entire season. Although yes, we fell short of our goal and failed, it would be a disgrace to act like the whole ordeal was all a waste. In the coming days as that match played over and over in my head like the numerous reruns on the “Saved by the Bell” channel (I have been consistently assured of its existence), I realized the extent to which I had grown as

As a member of the Varsity tennis team, I am no stranger to facing what seem to be impossible odds. Being a singles player, during a match it is all on me to figure out what is going wrong and make the adjustments to fix it. Halfway through a match, I found myself down one set to none against the seventh ranked team in the state. The break in between sets is time to reflect on the same thus far, and to think about what you are doing right and what you aren’t doing so well. At this point in the game, I was down on myself and I couldn’t get anything in my arsenal of shots going. Instead of continuing to try to hit shots that I hadn’t hit all game, I decided to go back to the basics and try to gain some confidence in my shots. My main goal was

Anthony walked out of their old car, tennis racket clenched tightly in his right hand, his brown hair messy as usual. He was surprised at how many people showed up at the tournament, kids from 5 states would be competing. Anthony was glad the tournament was held in Virginia, which was where he lived. His family would never be able to afford flying to another state for the tournament.

The bus was silent, no one daring to speak. We had just suffered the first loss in more than 10 years to one of the competing schools to make it to the state tournament for tennis. This bus ride home from the tournament in Green Bay gave me sufficient time to reflect on my matches and on the sport as a whole.

It was match point in the state championship, tensions were high as everyone watched with bated breath to find out who would be crowned the best doubles team in the state. The ball flew out of bounds, and the crowd was roaring. Parents and teammates went wild, but their excitement wasn’t for me. It was my freshman year and we had done amazing in the tournament, but we hadn’t won. My doubles partner and I were thrilled anyways. Even more so when we found out that the team we lost to would be playing singles next year. 2014 would be our year. There would be no one to beat us, we would have an easy win. We were cocky, and we were wrong. However, the thing to take us out of the state tennis finals would not be a new team, it would be a combination

This doubt having been buried into my skull by the opponent who awaited me on the opposite side of the bracket. During my semifinal match, it was not the individual on the other side of the net that I was focused on, but the individual playing on the court next to mine. It was on that court that my opponent, Drew Langford, the intruder who was presumed to strip the crown from my head, was effortlessly winning his match. When you watched him play he nearly seemed unbeatable. It was the standard that his older siblings had left, Langfords simply did not lose, especially within the town limits. Never had a witnessed such a great combination of power and consistency on the tennis court. I squeezed out a very narrow victory in my semifinal match against a inexperienced player who should have posed a very little threat because my head was already fighting the battle ahead. At that point, the match that had been awaited the entire year by the Avon tennis community was determined. This would not be our first meeting on the green courts of Avon High School. Many times before we had battled. It was very unlikely that a match between me and my next opponent would end friendly. Drew Langford, in many peoples eyes, was not a teammate, but an opponent. Surrounded by this confident aura, often mistaken as arrogance, many of the current team members were not excited about our new "teammate", myself on the top of that

High expectations of my supporters added me a feeling of guilt and incertitude. My family trusted me, and I did not fulfill their expectations, as I promised before. I love people, and the fact that my performance on the court affected one’s mood put me in the position, where my hands shook in every point of the game. It was a very unpleasant experience in my life, because I knew, that I am able to play better, but my nerves could not let me play my game. The game ended with me losing and all of my supporters left with sour faces, signing their dissatisfaction to my side. I looked at everyone of my them and saw that their mood was screwed up because of my poor performance. No one cared about the price I had to pay to get to this point, what mattered, was the result, and it implied that my hours of work were wasted. The next day, I felt such grief, that I did not want to talk to anyone and had no more desire to continue playing. I analyzed my mistakes and understood, that my poor performance on the court was caused by uncertainty of my actions. The next tournament, I promised that no one is going to come to my match, so I could focus on my actions, instead of focusing on fulfilling the expectations of my

There became a point in my tennis career, after I learned all the shots and techniques any player needs, that I decided I could do anything with tennis. It took me several years for me to realize that in order to achieve success in tennis or anything else in life, I couldn’t do everything on my own. I had many great mentors and coaches growing up that would do their best to help me but I just wasn’t listening to them. At my peak of frustration I had lost my first 3 matches junior year of high school tennis, playing number 2. I was ready to quit, throw all my racquets and shoes away but I decided to listen to my school tennis coach and give it one last shot.

During tennis season my passion for learning to play tennis paid off. I had the opportunity to play singles in a tennis match. I told myself that the lessons I have taken will help me win. Unfortunately, I lost the first set of the match and was down to the last set. The match was really close, with every point back to back. I ended up losing the match and I was so upset. My teammates ran over to me and hugged me for playing the match. In the end, even though I did not win, I realized that I never gave up. Not only was playing a tennis match an accomplishment, but I proved to myself that winning is not all that

He replied with a slight smirk, enough to realize he was being sarcastic. As usual, we spun a raquet to determine who would choose to serve or return. I called “up” and crossed my fingers that I did not have to serve but nevertheless, it landed downwards which meant I was to serve first. My hands were shaking and I began to sweat profusely. I walked over to my side and took a few tennis ball with me as I got ready to serve. I kept telling myself not to choke on this serve but pressure reached me. I missed the first serve and began to loose hopes for how this game would go. All this determination for nothing? “No!” I told myself. I have fought too long and lost too many battles thus far, enough to deem me “unfit” for tennis. Coaches have always seen potential within me and I wanted to confirm their beliefs. With these thoughts in mind, I bounce the ball on the court a couple times to maintain focus. My muscles tightend around my raquet, almost to a choking state. With all the energy I had left within me, I throw the ball up into the air and slam the ball in bounds. A loud crack could be heard throughout the class, everthing going silent as a result. “Woah! Did I just do that?!” I yelled. My opponent was silent for the rest of the game, not even calling the score. With my raquet in hand, I went on to win six games to three and continued this trend for many other lessons. My raquet was my greatest friend on the court and would always help me in a tough situation, however, the greatest aspect of my raquet was that ability to deliver unspeakable determination. From the synthetic strings, to the metal framework, this raquet gave me more than good luck. The raquet gave me the true requirements for life, courage and determination. Without thi raquet, I would have never learned to fight for victory in all areas of life. This gift was a huge part of my life, for it was the key towards everlasting