There Were Some Who Didn't Make It -- Part One

Today’s keyword is menagerie. The fun began with the 4:15 am wake-up call to prepare for the third 4H horseshow of the season. The Pod is not competing as a participant, but has a few students going through the ranks, so she takes a horse each time to do some training classes as well. Why not? Her thought is; she is there so why not train a horse while also training the riders. This is fantastic for the family too because it means we get to spend quality minutes at a horseshow during an off weekend. It is all good though because there is a menagerie of events to watch, horses to stare at, and people to talk with about random things. The word popped into my head today because a year ago I would have been coaching my team against Stetson and would have missed the show which made me think about the players who left the team for a menagerie of reasons. All of them were great guys and each deserves a bit of reflection.

Opportunity is something that is appreciated when it is earned. Enter Nathan Jones. A Jacksonville lad with an eagerness to give it a shot. He came to visit FSC and just wanted to know if there was an opportunity for him to be considered for the team. Seeing his heart and desire to put himself through the pain and effort that would be necessary, made it easy to give him the chance. He didn’t have the skillset of the standard player that came in to the program, but he was willing to start at the bottom and see where he could go. I don’t want to be mean but describing Nathan as scrawny was factual not cruel. He was a lean young man but was eager to build. He was so eager that he started training with some other players before school even started. This ended his early season training because at some point he forgot to stop for the fence. He finally stopped when his head halted his progress against the pole on the fence. This was a new one for me as a coach. A concussion before practice even started. Fast forward and the kid recovered. He trained with the best of them, improved his strength, got better as a player, and was liked by his teammates. He came to me at the end of the season and stated he was going back to be near his home. You see, his first love was the family business. Mission trip camps that his family has run for years. There really is no arguing with a person’s passion. He is doing great these days. He is taking classes at UNF and at one point I heard he was even up in Atlanta in the police academy. He didn’t stay with us long, but he came and proved he could do it.

Education is an important aspect of the college experience. For Thomas Lauper education was a massive factor for his departure from FSC. The Swiss native came to the school for studies and wanted to be a part of the team. His work ethic was second to none, but he was a bit behind on the tennis court. He was a great partner during workouts and his teammates loved him. He was so intelligent, and his studies were so important that he made the decision to leave after his first year. The course of steady he wanted wasn’t offered at FSC. This was a wonderful choice for him. He has been all over the world studying and playing. Currently, he is in Zurich working for the Boston Consulting Group, so I think his decision-making process worked well for him. I get to keep up with him through modern messaging and his travels and exploits are always entertaining.

There was a time that I played tennis fairly regularly during my off time from the team. Enter Matt McNish. A Hawaiian who was residing in Orlando. A diminutive character who loved music. He was studying music at FSC but loved tennis as well. He would come down to the courts and play set after set with me. One day we were talking, and he summoned the courage to ask me if he could come out for the team. Well, as excited as I was to have a hitting partner, the team was a tight knit bunch of guys who had been through the wars together and I just didn’t feel that it would be appropriate for that season. Fast forward to the next fall and the ukulele playing player was on the team. He was a bit out of shape but wanted it so badly. His frustration with his play became must see tennis for his teammates. So pumped when he did well and equally abusive to himself when his play didn’t satisfy what he thought he was capable of, his emotions became a detriment to his personal life. The stress of his class load, his love of music, and internship opportunities shortened his career as a roster athlete. Matt maintained his relationship with the team his senior year by DJing for matches. He had the complete set up and it created a cool vibe.

There are a couple more guys who had shortened careers and I will cover them in a different post. These guys were all an essential element to the team. They either brought personality, diversity, sparring partners, comedy, or a bit of each. I loved giving the underdog the opportunity to shine. It didn’t always work out in the end but there was never denying that it was available. Menagerie, a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition, is the definition according to the dictionary. You know what is funny; it is a true statement when it came to the groups of guys I had on my teams. I love them all and enjoyed showing them off. When we had a home match our mob made quite the impression. We definitely weren’t the Bad News Bears but there were moments that we appeared to be close. Thanks to these guys I had an exciting time and a new experience almost every day.

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash
Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash