Tennis

I've always enjoyed playing tennis. My sister, my dad, and I used to play together a lot when I was younger. I remember a lot of late school nights spent on the court goofing around but also playing seriously until the lights turned off at the park. At that time I took lessons at Atkins Tennis Center, but stopped before middle school because however much I liked tennis, the sport was always second to soccer in my mind. When I came to Uni, though, my feelings changed.

This is not to say that I became more passionate about tennis, because that was not the case, but I came to appreciate and enjoy the sport more. A few years after I stopped playing and trying to improve seriously at Atkins is when my soccer team became much more serious. We got a new coach in particular that worked us, scolded us, and screamed at us more intensely than anyone had before. Our team then became on ice, and where before every soccer practice for IFC (the local soccer club I was in) was enjoyable and productive, practices under Mike "frothing-at-the-mouth""cool whip" Wingo (AKA Wingo the Elder) became toxic. Everyone was afraid of making a mistake because they didn't want to be the next one yelled at, and so every practice felt uneasy and tiring.

This is where tennis comes in. Tennis at Uni has the opposite environment than that of soccer at IFC. Here at Uni our tennis team has a very laid back and goofy team spirit and environment. People aren't afraid of making mistakes, or ashamed that they aren't good enough as other players. Diversity of skill and experience is embraced. It also helps that I have more close friends on the tennis team than I had on my club soccer team, along with the fact that no expectations were put on me to perform super well by my parents or myself. Also, one of the best parts is that we barely have to do any running! The combination of all these factors allows me to simply have fun, and get rid of my stress while playing tennis.

The tennis seasons seem to get more enjoyable each year that I play. Every year more and more of my friends have signed up to play, and we spend a hefty amount of time goofing off of the courts, but never get yelled at :). But as much as we mess around, we also play seriously (or try to) because we love the sport. We have spent many many weekends playing at local parks, and I have gotten so many great memories from those experiences, that I never really got when playing soccer with my club team. In short, tennis at Uni (and in general) is fun, and if you haven't tried it out you should because it's a great way to relieve stress and get out of fitness.