My tennis story

I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was 13 years old when my father came home from work one day with a brand new, navy blue, wooden, Dunlop tennis racket and promptly handed it to me with a smile on his face, "I bought this for you." My father was never a big gift giver, and since it wasn't Christmas or my birthday, his generous gift of this amazing piece of sporting equipment would make an imprint on my teenage mind that some 52 years later has inspired me to plan a tennis tournament birthday party in honor of my late father and his hope that I would find joy in this wonderful activity. 

That day started my tennis journey which has included years of hard-fought matches with my older brother Richard, a place on my high school club tennis team, a trophy for winning my college Homecoming tennis tournament and so much fun playing and meeting the tennis community in Kingston, Jamaica, Miami, Florida, and now Morgantown, West Virginia. 

In 2002, thirty years after the start of my tennis odyssey, the journey came to an abrupt halt that reflected a broken spirit. That year I fell so low in the life rankings, I determined I would leave all of my past behind and run away to New York to start a new life. The details of this dark period of my life is the subject of my blog, podcast and upcoming book called, "Sit Up and Stop Clowning Around." Those poignant experiences contributed to my belief in the positive impact a good therapist can have on a lost soul. And I am deeply grateful to have the best therapist anyone could ask for--my wife of 40 years, Dr. Cherelle Carrington.

Suffice it to say that I have been on the mend for the past 20 plus years and have finally added tennis back to my list of lost loves. The tennis community in Morgantown, West Virginia has been a particularly important part of my tennis and emotional recovery. I am thankful to have found out about the Summit Tennis Academy through my friend, Owen and to have met many tennis partners at or above my level, who like me, play with zeal, determination, and passion. 

I have been particularly motivated by Bill, my Wednesday afternoon tennis challenger who, although more than 15 years my senior, outruns and outplays me a regular basis. Playing with Bill has both inspired me to get in better shape and given me hope that I still have many more years in which to enjoy the sport I love if I keep working at it. Then there is John who insists he just picked up a tennis racket for the first time a few months ago but plays with such fluidity and skill that I am tempted to think he is not being completely transparent and has been playing since he was eight. And what about Terry, who I have only played once in a single's match, but who plays with such precision and calculation one would think she was a math teacher. Not surprisingly, I later discovered, she is.

Add Josep, Geoff, Henry, Jennifer, Bridget, Swanny, Jeanette and Molly to the mix and you have one amazing tennis tournament, "The Morgantown Closed Tennis Classic." I use the word "Closed" because unlike the Open tennis tournaments, this one is unique in many respects. This Birthday Bash is closed to the idea that winning is all that matters. It is closed to booing and to criticisms of the participants' style of play. It is closed to taking tennis or oneself too seriously. It is closed to questioning calls and berating umpires even if there are no umpires. It is closed to acting as if you are superior to others, even if you can hit a small fuzzy ball over a net better than they can.

The US Open, French Open, and Australian Open are really all closed to everyone who is not an elite, ranked player. But the Morgantown Closed is really open to all those who enjoy hanging with Ron and his growing circle of friends. The word "Closed" is clearly tongue in cheek, and meant to describe this birthday bash as something light-hearted.

Moreover, I want to tap into our common and ubiquitous need for community and connection. Although I want us to play hard and compete, pretending we are all world class tennis players, more importantly, I want us to have fun knowing that we are are all world class tennis friends.

Thank you for coming to the Morgantown Closed Tennis Championship. Let us celebrate that as we grow older we can grow even more enthusiastic and more in love with tennis. Furthermore, we can learn to grow more appreciative of, more supportive of, and more connected to the people we are fortunate to have in our lives and in our comunity.

​

​

​