The Season 2009 - Chapter Two

The summer of 2009 seemed slow in coming, but rich in possibility. After the disorientation that always seems to happen in May, summer is a grasping at straws in the wind and trying to tie them together, make them grow flowers, and become a beautiful bouquet.

Summer has it's brilliant summer sun, warm temperatures, trips to the beaches and vacation relaxation. Summer mornings went this way for me... Kyle, Seth, Matt and I hitting at the courts almost every crisp June morning, heading instead to the dark gym to hear Tony Horton call out what push-ups we were to do, watching Gideon run around the courts setting up cones or yelling out hello to the passing trains... those are good times.

And I appreciate the characteristics of people that I got to know. Seth is amazing with kids, and loved to hit and goof around with Gideon. Kyle can boom his serves. My little 1 year old son loves tennis. Ab Ribber X is by far the hardest of the P90X workouts. Little things.

We played in a summer league too. That holds some amazing memories as well. Traveling up to Buchanan and Berrien Springs to play two matches on a day that was blistering hot (near 100 degrees!) But really, watching the progression of our team within that one day, watching us "get it," that was amazing. From the first match to the second match, Austin, Kyle, and Blake all showed remarkable improvement. And we defeated Berrien Springs 4-1, which would have been 5-0 if Claude hadn't have gotten sick from his Subway. I remember laying in the sparse shade of a couple really old and dying trees that day and thinking, "I think I've found my team, the spirit that we need."

There were other great summer league matches as well. Mikey against Lakeshore was amazing. Mikey ran down everything, hit everything back and competed with a focused intensity, even saving one match point that looked like the end for sure. After that match, the coach commented that Mikey had to be one of the most athletic players he had ever seen. The team was looking good.

And I need to remember those sunny moments and fond memories, because sometimes storm clouds can simply overwhelm the whole landscape. Last summer had it's share of rain, both literal and figurative.

There was team camp. A scheduling mistake meant that we were at the Angola courts the week that they were hosting a round-robin tournament, and using the courts all the time. This banished us to a local elementary school, and where there were only four courts, one with a tattered net. Then, on Tuesday the rains came down, and for the next three days we dodged storm after storm, trying to find dry courts and other things to fill our time. We did P90X as a team, we played games in the gym, we slept.

But there was more than that even. There were the uncommitted people among our team members, people who didn't want to work hard. It was unbelievably frustrating to get the team working on a drill and see two or three people messing around. Or to be doing a P90X workout and see some people just sitting out. That's not Bethany Christian tennis and hard work, that was just laziness!

And then there was conflict. Conflict with the church as we left too much of a mess from climbing into the ceiling during hide-and-go-seek. Conflict between players as we spent too much time together and hit on some raw nerves. The inevitable "Speed Ball Conflict" of arguing over the rules. For me, though team camp still had it's fun moments and memories (Pizza King, new nicknames for the freshman "Sam & Damien", fried chicken), it was still the most stressful camp I've led.

And of course, it was more than team camp. There were the uncertainties. We were really only getting 5 varsity hopefuls to the open courts and summer matches. What was going to happen to the other two? Seth left in the month of July to go to Oregon, would that set back his game? We had several smashed racquets and anger outbursts, would those continue. And what does a coach who doesn't like conflict do with a summer full of it?

It was a disorienting summer that I wasn't sure had a full sense of purpose. There was sun and there was rain, but were the clouds clearing for a beautiful sunset or were they gathering for an awful Indiana storm? But then, you're never really sure at the summer stage, it is just hints about what is to come. Were we correcting our weaknesses, focusing on goals, and getting better or just out playing tennis? Were we dealing with problems, getting them out there and getting them fixed, or were we ignoring them?

Were we mending tattered nets or just playing over them?