Pro circuit gets younger: Daily Illini
Pro circuit gets younger - Daily Illini ~~~
Go straight to the pros or attend college first? This story by Amber Greviskes explores that crucial decision, through the prism of a match at last November's Challenger in Champaign, Illinois between Scott Oudsema and Todd Widom.
Oudsema is quoted as saying, "Tennis is becoming more of a younger sport every day," which doesn't really jibe with the Agassi McEnroe Navratilova versions we've seen lately. But it is ever more competitive, with its increasingly global reach, and an early start can be an advantage, if a player believes he is physically and mentally ready for matches like the one described here.
Ryan Sweeting took a hard look at himself and decided he wasn't quite prepared for the pro circuit minor leagues, and hopes to follow a path similar to James Blake's. Blake always talks of his two years at Harvard as crucial to his development and confidence, demonstrating that there isn't just one path to success.
This story seems to end abruptly, and it left me unsure who won the match, so I looked it up. (Thanks Steveg!) Oudsema did, 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-4, but lost in the next round and is still looking for the winning streak that will propel onto tennis' main stage.
3 comments:
Perhaps it's because most boys and girls who play tennis, don't have a ninth grade education. The pressure to become an Agassi or a Evert has been instilled in them since they were youngsters.
Chosing a life on the pro tour is foolish if you look at the past ten years of players who have gone that route, instead of tennis.
Isn't in ironic that the top men in college tennis the past three years, chose to first finish school and then turn pro to pursuit their dreams.
Parents, coaches, the money machine, put too much emphasis on "making it big" so that the kids concentrate on their backhands not their math and science.
Any kid that plays tennis, isn't rated in the top 10 ITF's should head to college and then if they still have it, go pro.
Ryan Sweeting, mentioned in your article, is the smartest one yet. He could have had any deal he wanted after winning the US Open Juniors last fall, but instead, wisely opted for an education.
Let's see what happens with his career versus those of the boys mentioned in this article.
Indeed! We've come a long ways from 1963 when Trinity University (Texas) player Chuck McKinley spent his summer vacation winning Wimbledon and was back in class and playing college tennis in the fall.
I too have noted several players who have had some success in pro tennis - at least getting into and maybe a round in a Slam - have been college grads (Paul Goldstein, Alex Kim.....)
Unfortunately there are fewer and fewer opportunities for Americans as foreign players now dominate most all the college programs. With tax payers money too. No wonder kids turn pro.
Re: "Unfortunately there are fewer and fewer opportunities for Americans as foreign players now dominate most all the college programs." - from a player developement perspective wouldn't this help in terms of developing pros? Also, the Kim's, Goldstein's, Blake's, Bryan's, Vahaly's, etc., had zero problem finding scholarships and may tell you that playing against high level international players helped their development, get them ready for the pro tour. There's a lot of arguments too make in terms of international college players, but it hurting player development or taking scholarships from the top American players doesn't seem to be one of them to me.
"With tax payers money too. No wonder kids turn pro." - How much of your tax money goes to college tennis programs in your state? .00000000000000000001 cent? If that? Most if not all of the funding for tennis programs at the larger schools (Big 10, SEC, Pac-10, ACC, etc) comes from the revenue generated from athletic dept fundraising, football, basketball, etc. I can think of a lot of things my tax money goes to before tennis scholarships - roads, bridges, area grammar and high schools, maybe the state college's library or english dept, my area's parks and recreation deparment. There are literally hundreds of thousands of other programs in a state that are higher up in the pecking order that tennis scholarships when it comes to tax payer monies.
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