Whoa, it’s been a few days since I last put down some thoughts. I would love to say it was because some awesome stuff kept me away but it was just life. Although, my life is awesome and what I do is fun and exciting, at times it consumes everything and halts anything that I may feel is important. Reading, exercising, and writing have become habits that I love doing. The writing gets pushed away when the others don’t. I have taken a few days to just focus on my work but it is time to write again.
Playing as many matches as the team has played in the past twelve days reminds me of some of my other teams that I have coached. There were guys who were gamers and were ready for every day and there were guys who were ready every day but let you know how badly they hurt and how bad the scheduling was. Vladimir Barabash was one of the first guys. His story to FSC success is almost fairytale material. Once a year, I took a trip to IMG/Bolletierri Academy to see the talent that I may want to recruit or skip over for the next year and years beyond. The annual trip was really just a fun day to see how the academy had grown and to see what cool projects they were working on to help athletes grow. Vlad was one of the guys on the list for that particular trip so off I walked to one of the back courts on the large campus of the academy.
As a coach, you always dream of seeing a player that is going to be the game changer. Vlad was not that guy. He was a scrawny, lanky, somewhat unathletic kid. I do mean kid. He had a non-descript serve, a decent forehand, and a non-existent backhand. We won’t really talk about volleys because I lost interest after watching for about five minutes. My second thought, after my first thought that I wasted another trip, was that I do have a large squad and he seemed like a nice kid and if he wanted to walk on he might grow into a decent JV guy. We spoke for a few minutes, I told him what I thought, and I headed back to FSC to continue the search for “real” players.
Fast forward to the fall and I received a call or a message that there was a kid from the Ukraine that said he was going to be on the tennis team. For the life of me I could not remember a kid from the Ukraine that I had recruited or where I might have seen one playing. About thirty minutes later, Vlad walked in to my office and he was coming to FSC. This is one of those moments where, as a coach, you don’t know if you want to be excited because you have another body or to be worried how you fit this kid into your workout plans. The funny thing is, I had no idea he was coming to FSC because there had been no communication with IMG or Vladimir. Welcome to FSC and the men’s tennis team I hope you still like tennis after the first semester.
Heart is something that cannot be taught and sometimes it is the only thing a guy needs to unleash what is inside. Starting his freshman year, Vlad stood about 6’2” and weighed a whopping 140 pounds. Training didn’t affect him at all. Whatever I could dish out he handled. He got abused daily by the better players and just absorbed it over and over. Shockingly he developed a backhand and this uncanny mentality of believing he could win any match. He somehow made it into a couple of matches in singles his freshman year but the funniest part was his ability to win doubles. He was paired with another quirky player and the two of them finished off the season at number three doubles. They were fun to watch, unconventional, but damn sure effective. His sophomore season was mostly doubles and he continued to grow. He also came up with a catch phrase that I still use today. “What kills you makes you stronger!” Yes, he messed up the language, we laughed, and then we did everything we could to kill each other. Vlad just kept becoming stronger.
By his junior year, he was a constant in the lineup. He played number 4 singles and number 2 doubles. The mentality he developed had become engrained and he was becoming the “silent assassin”, which was a nickname he got from his teammates. Again, he had a stellar season and was ready to start his senior year. It has always given me great pleasure to see the growth of athletes over their time at FSC. Vlad had learned and had remedied the flaws that haunted his game. When he went on the court it was expected he would come back with a win at both singles and doubles. He played with a quiet confidence and his perseverance had earned him a scholarship for his senior season. Watching what he had become as a player, a person, and as a quiet team leader was a gratifying experience. When he finished at FSC he was about 6’4” and had added 40 pounds to his scrawny frame. He was still lanky but was not awkward and was basically ripped.
There have been many players that have passed through the gates at FSC. Every single one of them has touched me and made me a better person. Vladimir is one of the warriors. He gets this moniker because of where he started and where he finished. He never appeared to fear losing and worked his ass off to earn what he got. I will never rate my players as the greatest of all time but I will, with strong resolve, state facts about those who should have never made it, those that did what was expected, and those that did it all. Vlad was a true example that hard work does pay off.
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