Tennis Tryouts

What’s happening? Am I really going to lose the match? All of my hard work will all go down the drain if I lose this game. A massive serve flew past me, and I lost the game. Completely frustrated, I walk off the court with my head down, swinging my racket back and forth Like a yo--yo on a string. I am unable to believe that all my hard work preparing for the game has gone down the drain in just one match, in just an hour and twenty--five minutes long. About to burst into tears, I heard my mom coming towards me. She says one thing that completely changes my view of the whole game. “Jack, I know you tried really hard, but look at it this way: You tried your best! You’ll play him again and possibly win. You played great! ”

My journey on my high school tennis team has been a peculiar one. Going into my freshman year I was touted as one the stellar players, one who was on the path straight to varsity. Unfortunately, I tore one of the ligaments in my right wrist and was sidelined for the months right before the tennis season. Going into my season, my confidence was low, I was worried about making the junior varsity team. I would end up making JV but not varsity. The next year I was back with more determination. Injury free, I had high expectations but lacked confidence. As I entered try-outs, I was shocked. My teammates were waiting for me. Each one of them came up to me and told me that they knew I was going to play this year, and that I was going to live up to

The state of Oregon and the national Racquetball scene are ablaze with high expectations and excitement for young Sawyer Howitt. Sawyer is a senior in high school majoring in business and finance. He also plays in association with the esteemed and private; Racquetball Club in Portland.

It was 9 a.m. and my mom barged into my room. She turned on my light and told me to get ready. The light hit my face forcing me to wake up. I could hear my mom and dad packing and loading our luggage into our truck. Today’s the day, I thought, Today was my last softball tournament for at least 4 months. I got that same feeling that I get when you go down the first arch on a roller coaster in my stomach. This happens every time I have a tournament or game. My stomach flips and I get butterflies in my stomach. I get nervous to make a mistake, make everyone mad, and frustrate everyone, especially my family. My anxiety consumes me and I get so nervous when the ball comes to me that my heart starts racing. I don’t want to be the one to let everyone down. But I’ve been getting better at not being scared. I’ve been trying to believe in myself more and have been overcoming my fear. I put my thoughts aside and got up, brushed my teeth, put my contacts on, washed my face, and got my uniform on. I brushed my my hair, put it in a ponytail and got some gel to slick back my hair. The gel felt like slime as I slicked it back on my hair, and I put my bow on. I went to my room to get my sweatband and was debating on what color I should wear to match my uniform. I decided to bring both of my headbands and decide which one I should wear today on the ride over to the ballpark. I got my bag that I had packed yesterday, double checked that I had everything I

Thursday came and it was time to go I tried to get out of it, but I was eventually forced. We got there and the coaches had to give me all of my gear to play. All of us got on the field and our practice began. Once it finished and we got home my mom asked me if I liked it. I immediately replied with NO! The deal was if I did not like it I could quit , but instead she said give it a week and see.She bribed me by saying I could move my room upstairs,

Of after they realized that it was just me tripping on a curb they thought I was fine so my brother helped me walk over to a good vantage point so I can still play the game stealthily. I did ok that round but it was getting dark and we all had to go back home. When me and my brother went home he helped me walk over to the house when my mom saw that I was limping she freaked out and I tried to persuade her that I was fine and I just tripped on the curb, and that there was nothing to worry about. She really wanted me to go to the hospital. I told her that I will go to the hospital first thing in the

Before I knew it the tryouts were over and my mom came to pick me up. She picked me up in front of the building, when she was supposed to pick me up in the back. As if i wasn’t embarrassed enough I thought to myself. I was so disappointed with how it went. I remember getting angry at my mom when she asked me about it. I think I thought that she read my mind and knew exactly how nervous and sad I was.

At last, the day of girls tennis tryouts has came. The day I have been waiting for to finally reveal my skills and techniques. I trained hard all summer to get in better physical shape so that when I got onto the court I could attack each and every ball. The tryouts took place at tennaqua which had six tennis courts available.

After some warm-up activities and a pep talk from the coach, the game started. To my surprise Sarah was in the starting line-up. She ran up and down the field for the first ten minutes or so, and she finally had an opportunity to kick the ball. She took her first kick, missed the ball, and landed flat on her back. She got up, and came crying over to the sideline and begged, "Don't make me play anymore, Dad, I can't do it." She refused to go back into the game. The game ended, and on the way to the car she continued to cry, "Don't make me play Dad, please, I don't want to." I mustered up all my courage and I said to her sternly, "You're playing. You are playing. Now get in the car." She got in the car and we drove home. On the way home all I heard was a bunch of sniffling and whining in the back seat. I didn't have a very long ride home, but I can tell you this. She wore me out. I was emotion ally exhausted by the time I got home. We pulled up into the driveway, and I sat miserably in the car as I watched Sarah get out and walk into the house, sniffling and shaking as she walked through the front door. I sat stewing in the car and said to myself, "Who wants to play soccer anyway, dumb game." I then attempted to further rationalize my thoughts by saying to myself, "Soccer's for boys anyway." I walked into the house, stood at the bottom of the stairs and yelled up the stairs, "SARAH." She

I was not old enough to drive and would have my mom pick me up every day after school didn’t want to take too long since my mom didn’t like when I took too long. In order to try to stay on time, I took my shoes over to where they three of them were standing and started putting them on. From the looks on their faces, something wasn’t right and they didn’t utter a word until the last girl left the room. They then began to tell us that they do not want us to perform at the basketball game with the team because we were not ready. They believed we were “inconsistent with our routines” in practice and didn’t feel we would be ready for the game. Rachel proposed they would revisit the idea of us performing on Friday if we can get the second half of the dance down perfectly for the assembly but at the moment we were not going to be joining the team. When, they asked for us to stay back, I didn’t think they would deliver this kind of news to us. I tried my best to keep myself from breaking down even though I could feel my eyes burning from tears. I couldn’t speak a word and just nodded along with them. Before they let us go, Renee asked us our opinions on the situation. In my head, I wanted to tell them it wasn’t fair to pull two girls from the team performance. But all I could say was that it was okay and that i

I said that I was okay, I could have said anything but I did not want her worrying, so I said that. Still, to this day I have been enraged about that decision. Since I said I was fine, my mom only took me to the regular doctor, who poked and prodded at my wrist and sent me to the hospital. If one has ever went to the regular doctor for an injury they know you feel worse after because of the way they look at it and twist it around. By the way I kept playing, and by the time I went to the doctor, my wrist had started to become worse than the original injury that I

One night, my mom got a call from Tim Kirkland, the 7th grade basketball coach. I didn’t think anything of it until my mom started saying my name and talking about me. Who on earth could she be talking to? About me?! I instantly stopped doing my homework and sat there impatiently wondering what it was about. About 5 minutes had gone by and I started anxiously rolling on the carpet in the family room where my mom was babbling. Twirling my hair, drawing pictures in the carpet, and annoying my dog. Finally, my mom gets off the phone and says she needs to talk to me. She told me that Coach Kirkland has invited me to play on the 7th grade team for that upcoming in-house basketball season. At first, I was surprised and silent. She continued to tell me it would be more intense and tougher than I’m used to but she thought it would be a good experience. I pondered on it for a moment and remembered that I’m indecisive and have no idea what to do. I had two options: stay on my old team or advance onto the 7th grade team. Since my I trust my mom and don’t know what to do for myself, I decided to take risk and play for Coach

My opinion on having tryouts at school sports is strong. The same kids make the team run everyday. We would get something done in practice if there wasn't thirty kids to a team. When we play baseball you only get to hit once with all of them kids. When you hit you pretty much pack up because you will never walk to the plate again.

Day Wednesday Friday Saturday Time 10:30am - 11:30am 10:30am - 11:30am 8:00am - 9:00am Duration 5 weeks 5 weeks 5 weeks Cost $75.00 $75.00 $75.00 Dates 9/07 - 10/05 9/09 - 10/07 9/10 - 10/08

I entered the gym door with 16 people, walking to the lockers on a hot summer day. One by one we all changed into our uniform. When we finished the coach called us all out and made us get a volleyball. Things got really interesting and fun. From there we practiced serving the ball over the net. Next, he made us get in a circle to serve the ball to each other. Tomorrow same time 2:30, we will start again. The objective for today was to play against the team. He split the girls and me into two teams. I got on the black line, feeling anxious but dauntless. I saw the net and the line across the other room and I gazed at it. At practice, I couldn’t hit the ball back when the other team served. I constantly tried and tried, but I failed. I experienced that volleyball’s not my thing, but I had to keep trying.