Getting My Nephews Involved

During the Christmas holiday, I've had the opportunity to talk with my nephews in Seattle about setting a date for my next visit which will include a visit to the University of Washington to see their men's tennis team in action. This is the third year in a row I'll get the boys out to a match and expose them to some great college tennis and hopefully continue to strengthen their interest in the game.

Over the last four years, I've helped develop an interest with my sister's second child, Kory, by getting him on the court and teaching him how to hit the ball. Three years ago when my sister and her family moved to the Seattle area, I saw it as an opportunity to expose Kory and Kyler to the game through the Washington men's program, which is one of the better programs in the country. We have had some great experiences at their matches.

Two years ago, I took Kory to the UW - Oregon match. Former Georgia Tech player West Nott, who is currently the assistant coach for the University of Southern California women's team, was a volunteer coach at UW and he made a point of getting together briefly during the match with me and Kory for a quick meet and greet and some photos. Kory loved the experience. A UW match would not be complete without a visit from the costumed Husky mascot or a visit from the UW band or even the best thing you can offer a young fan willing to wait a few minutes in line - free pizza. Out of all the places my sister and her husband could have relocated to, Seattle is just a phenomenal city and having UW so close by was a real bonus for me, especially with the tennis program it offers.

Last year I brought all three of my sister's boys to the Portland match. Kyler, the oldest, tracked the scores of each match throughout the afternoon and gave me regular updates as the Huskies got closer and closer to victory. In the break between doubles and singles, Kory took part in an on court race for fans and ended up winning a Husky tennis t-shirt for his efforts. This year, Kyler says he will earn a shirt. Later, Kory and Kyler got an autograph and photos with the Huskies #1 player, senior Alex Slovic. He was great to the boys and they loved how approachable Alex was. For the two young boys, it certainly was a memorable day. I loved every minute of it!

It was later in the season that I learned that Alex was a good friend of Daniela Bercek. Nina was a senior at Duke and a former #1 in the NCAA singles rankings. I have known Nina for a number of years and when I was talking with her about my UW experience during the Georgia Tech - Duke match this past season, she told me she went back a number of years with Alex, as they played tennis together in Serbia. When the NCAA championships were taking place in May in Athens, Georgia, I ran into Alex and UW coach Matt Anger. Alex was participating in the singles championships and ended up losing to John Isner in the semifinals. My nephews were really impressed that he had such a great run in the championships. I think they might have even shared that fact with their friends at school. I told Alex I talked with Nina in Atlanta and again thanked him for being so nice to my nephews. It really was another example of how small the tennis world really is.

The boys and I have talked about a few matches for the 2008 season and at the moment I think we are leaning towards either the Pacific or the Eastern Washington matches taking place in March. UW is hosting the indoor championships in February and that would be a temping event to go to. The boys are young and so the significance of the opponent is not as big of a deal. Plus, the month of March will be a better time for me. No matter what match we end up at, I know we'll have a great time together.

There are just so many ways to get the kids involved in the game of tennis. I have other nephews and a niece and I hope to be able to create a passion in each one of them for this great game. I can't think of a better way to build that passion than to have them experience a college tennis match.

Time.