First Tennis Match

Olivia's first tennis match was Tuesday. Each week the team is evaluated individually for placement on either jv or varsity and also chosen for singles or doubles. Olivia made jr. varsity and played doubles. The first match was away and played at one of the most "well-to-do" school districts in the state. I thought there might be "trouble" when the opposing team came out in cute, matching tennis skirts and tops. Realizing the uniform does not make the player, I tried not to roll my eyes. Our team has matching t-shirts and was told to buy red shorts with pockets (which let me tell you is not the easiest thing to do). Dick's employees did not know where to find red shorts with pockets within their own store. I found them myself, at Dick's, after searching every nook and cranny. When the opposing team came onto the court and started warming up, that's when I realized there could be a problem. From our observation, each girl looked like they had been playing tennis since birth or at least had been taking lessons for ten years. :)

Olivia was pumped after scoring the one and only point for her doubles team. You could tell she was just having a good time and not getting down on losing. She told us later that the other team was taking it way too seriously and that they didn't smile. The night ended with Olivia and her doubles partner losing 6-0 / 6-1. After losing the second match, Olivia ran to tell her coach that they were improving and that they'd only lost 6-1. I love her optimism! The coach was glad to hear of the improvement as well.