Mark at Nationals B14s!

This year was the year for Mark to go to all the National Tournaments this summer as this is his "second year" of playing B14s. He had till December of this year, when he turns 15 to compete in this category. Mark went to Clay Courts, Hard Courts and Doubles National Tournaments. 

This year, Clay Court Nationals were held in Dothan, Alabama in early July. 

Mobile, Alabama hosted Hard Courts (just like last year and in 12s) in early August. 

And we went to Orlando, FL for Doubles Nationals at the end of August.  

The tournament organizers in Dothan, tried really hard to make it a fun event for all the boys (and even parents). After the check in and a group picture (and instructions), we were supposed to have a mega swim party at the water park next door, with food and everything. But as we finished the check in, huge thunderstorm rolled in and ruined the plans. They postponed the swimming party for an hour or so, but by then most kids kind of dissipated and so only a few of Mark's friends decided to go play on the slides for a bit. They had a blast! And the parents had a few of the fancy cheeses/fruit/snacks/drinks. 

The next morning, it was anything but fun and laughter--the competition was stiff! This is the strongest players in the country after all. Here is Mark with his draw.

Mark was playing doubles with Connor this year again. 

Mark and Connor did really well until they got to the 3rd round where they lost to Rafa and Everest in the third set. 

In the previous match, Connor was super cramping for a while before the match. It was a miracle he was able to play, but somehow Mark "carried" him and they won a pretty challenging match! Rafa and Everest were a little better this time though, so our boys lost in a third set tiebreak. 

Mark did pretty well winning his first match against Ivan Urbanovich, a boy who beat Mark in Florida in November of last year in a third set tiebreak. But then he lost his second match against Rich Morgan in a pretty tight match. Mark moved on to the consolation and won a few more matches against tough opponents but then was stopped in his tracks by Simon Hernandez who was a seeded player. It was a great tournament for Mark especially because he survived it physically. The conditions were SO hot and humid it was crazy. People were getting sick, cramping, withdrawing....it was tough. So well done, Mark!  

About a month later, Hard Court Nationals welcomed 192 B14s players from all over the USA to Mobile, AL. 

Mark played doubles with Connor again! 

It's a BIG event! Pretty well organized too, full of prizes, free sandwiches and good tournament rates and swag. 

We tried to snap a few pictures but it wasn't always an opportune moment. But here--this is a picture of the winners! They had a few tough doubles matches again but they won a few matches and got through the Round of 16 where they lost to the 1 seed. 

Mark and his trusty cooler that Connor's mom brought in her car as they drove down and we flew. Mark wouldn't have survived without it. The heat index was 113F, I mean, it was so hot that it felt like an inferno. Mark changed his whole outfit after each set and had to drink gallons of water and electrolytes. 

Another day...another early morning warm up before the heat sets in. 

It's pretty cool, but they play the National Anthem before the first matches in the morning. 

A few pictures for fun--our dominant duo of Mark and Connor by the Southern flag. 

Now a little about Singles. Well, there was a lot actually! Mark did so well! He made it to the round of 32 in the draw of 192. In the main draw, he had to play the number 3 seed from CA who had just won Clay Courts. And in the previous match, Mark outlasted another boy from CA in a 4 hour match--it was a third full set. It was absolutely insane! The boy collapsed after the match, cramping and unable to move, so they had to call medical support and get a wheelchair for him. It was very dramatic. And I took Mark straight to a massage therapist who is a Ukrainian from Odessa (that I found through some sudden connections and Varvara, a Russian mom in Mobile). He did a magical massage that made it so that Mark was absolutely pain free and relaxed for the following day! 

After that main draw loss, Mark was moved to consolation where he played two more great matches! And both were against boys from California again! He had to win one match in a third set tiebreaker, but lost the last match while actually playing great (against a boy who later in the year was Orange Bowl finalist!).

We all considered it a great success as Mark definitely put his best effort into this and showed so much physical toughness and resiliency! 

He also got a Sportsmanship award, which is always really cool. Still tough to lose but need to recognize the great effort and progress. 

After Mark finished the tournament, we drove towards Fort Walton Beach to meet up with the Broughs who had just moved to Eglin AFB (where we used to live for Robert's residency). We met up with them at a Smoothie King and had a fantastic chat after all these years! Afterwards, Mark and I drove along the beautiful Emerald Coast, got some steamed shrimp and spent a couple of hours at Navarre Beach--gorgeous as ever (and absolutely worth a trip from anywhere!!!). We then drove to Pensacola and flew home. What a trip! 

But! Our tennis summer was not over!! Mark had National Doubles Championship to play in Orlando for the weekend before school started. That is why we had to say bye to Alex the day before he was flying to Utah--we were leaving to fly to Orlando.

Mark played doubles with...Connor! 

USTA National Campus is the place where they played, right under the flight path of the airplanes headed to MCO.  

The boys competed really well, beating some Florida boys and then a pair from Southern/Midwest, and finally Eastern section (that was a thriller...). 

Mark in his natural habitat after eating yet another poke bowl between the matches. 

They, sadly, lost their fourth match to number 1 seeds (who probably should have just played 16s as the whole tournament was just too easy for them). And on the last day, the boys had to play for the 3/4th place play offs against Mason Vaugh and James Andrew Ross. Unfortunately, they didn't play as well as they usually do and lost 6:1, 6:3. 

It's still quite amazing! A National Tournament and they got FOURTH place! 

Their opponents got bronze ball as a reward. 

And here is a picture with Connor, Dani (Mark's friend from Cameron's) and her partner. Dani got second place (silver ball). 

Posting this picture as this is a picture of Mark's number one fan (and I am wearing my famous skirt that I bought at the BX in Japan). 

It was quite an amazing long weekend at the USTA National Campus. Someday, we'll be back to compete at this highest level! 

Our flight home was on Southwest at 8 pm, and it so happened that Connor and Dani were on our flight. So they all sat together in a row while the moms-Kelly, Jennifer and I all sat behind them. The flight was a lot more fun with friends, that's for sure. All these kids had their first day of school the following morning, so everyone was elated with great results and excited about what's coming next! 

Lyana. 

Rowing Nationals 2023 Sarasota, FL

Alex is in college (that just sounds weird in my head).  But before we sent him off to college, we had to finish off his final High School related responsibilities. 

Anyway, we flew into Tampa and rented a car, this time it was a Nissan Altima or something like that (not like the flame orange Charger we rented a couple years ago).  Nonetheless we cruised around the Sunshine State in style!  Oh, so to recap Alex rows crew with the Triangle Rowing Club.  You may have seen his video he and his buddies made (i.e. pay $45 to a group in Africa to sing) to cheer him and his time on. Actually, that’s what made rowing so incredible for Alex.  He seriously made his closest buddies on that team.  

Okay, so back to Nationals.  It was HOT!  As in temperature.  But also Alex’s rowing team was HOT too.  As in they rocked on the water, and when I say rocked I mean they didn’t actually rock, because that would tip the boat, but they went fast!  This year I watched from the opposite bank of the river (doesn’t mean anything I guess if you haven’t been there before) where I didn’t have to pay $80 for a spectator ticket.  I saw the race just as well, or better, too. And let me say I miss being part of the rowing community.  This was Alex’s last race :(  

The sad thing about Nationals was Alex had to miss his graduation ceremony (more on that in another post as it all worked out!). BUT the cool thing was that they recognized senior rowers there and gave him a certificate.  

Okay, so you’re wondering how did Alex’s boat do at Nationals?  Better than they expected, so I’m told.  They placed 25th overall.  Now mind you when I say they placed 25th at Nationals what that really means (at least in my head) is that they are the 25th fastest boat in their category in the whole United States!!  Mic drop...

Nope, not done talking here.  So as cool as that was to place, we also had a great time hanging out with friends.  Mostly Alex just loved hanging out with his buddies while I went back to the hotel (no tears for me, I actually enjoy just relaxing away from people sometimes).  He played mini golf at one point.  I think he might have gone to the beach too.  Several of us parents with our rowers did go to a Japanese restaurant together though, so there’s that.  

I’m sure I’ll remember more of the details later.  Like what it was like walking around the venue (that reminds me, one of the rowing parents had an extra ticket she gave me so I went inside the paid area after all - I forgot about that till just now).  I didn’t really do much except buy a couple pieces of rowing merch for Alex - which I hope he still wears with pride, even though I told him Medium was NOT his size (lol).

In closing, I will just say adieu.  I will miss you TRC and all the cool people I got to know either by name or by face.  And for those whom I remember both your name and your face, you made the greatest impact of all.

Robert.

 

Speech Nationals 2023 Louisville, KY

A “guest” post by Robert!

Alex is an amazing Extemper!  One of the very best.  In fact he’s in the top 50 in the country!  How do I know that?  Because he placed 48th at the Speech and Debate Nationals competition in May of this year.  And I was there to witness it.  Well, not actually witness it because parents don’t really go in to watch Extemporaneous.  

What is this word, Extemporaneous?  Well, Extemp for short (which is nice because it takes a long time to type it though not as long as it took to type this explanatory aside). In short, each round he competes against 7 or so others.  Each contestant gets a random topic and then has 30 minutes to prepare AND give a 7 minute speech about it.  Extemp is considered one of the hardest events in Speech because how do you practice for spontaneity?

Well, not actually witness it because parents don’t really go in to watch Extemperaneous.  What is this word, Extemperaneous?  Well, Extemp for short (which is nice because it takes a long time to type it though not as long as it took to type this explanatory aside). In short, each round he competes against 7 or so others.  Each contestant gets a random topic and then has 30 minutes to prepare AND give a speech about it.  Extemp is considered one of the hardest events in Speech because how do you practice for spontaneity?

I went with him because 1) I wanted to and 2) the school needed to provide a certain number of judges (i.e. parents) or get fined. Funny thing, I was never assigned a single round to judge, so most of the time I read or worked on work stuff on my laptop (no I didn’t do any street dentistry in the back alleyways of Lousiville).  

We did, however, go to Cracker Barrel.  TWICE!  Because it was conveniently located across the street from our hotel.  We Ubered a couple of times (cheaper than rental car for this trip).  And except for the guy who couldn’t drive over 2 mph, and didn’t put his cigarette out, it worked out great.  

The hotel had a shuttle that would take people short distances for FREE!  One of those places was the Kentucky Derby racecourse just up the road.  So with some down time, Alex and I went to the Kentucky Derby!  Not really, but we did go to the museum there and even got a guided tour to the racecourse where we saw an actual horse race!  I didn’t win anything, but it was my first horse race.

  

We spent easily 2 (maybe 3) hours in the museum.  It was really fascinating learning about the history of horse racing in America.  And Jockeys.  

They ARE athletes, I don’t care what anyone tells you otherwise.  There was an exhibit on how these guys, albeit small, have to be incredibly fit to do what they do.  

The next day we flew home without incident and now, like rowing, Speech and Debate is but a fond memory.  I will miss it.  So will Alex.  And I miss Alex too.  Please come visit sometime.

Robert.

P.S. Our neighborhood creates this banner each year to celebrate all the seniors in our neighborhood. This year...Alex’s name was on it. We also get a party at the pool to celebrate these kids and they get amazing gift baskets with college necessities and treats. It’s pretty amazing! 

Hard Court National Championships-Mobile, AL B12s

This year Mark had another amazing opportunity--to play Hard Court Championships in Alabama. This was his last opportunity to play Boys 12s before starting to transition to Boys 14s. 

We again decided to fly with Mark and because there was no convenient way to make it inexpensive, we chose to fly to Pensacola, borrow the Webers' car for a few days, and then fly out of Fort Walton Beach on the way back. It was a brilliant idea and it worked out beautifully at the end! 

This was the check-in day. The boys all got a nice bag with some swag and coupons for food and free lunches. The tournament site had a LOT of courts but if the USTA National Campus was spread out, this place was crammed. Still, they had a pretty nice set up there (minus the parking). 

In the mornings, before the very first matches, the kids are all greeted from the loud speakers and then they all walked up to their courts to the sound of "Sweet Caroline". It was actually pretty cool!

Mark had a very tough first match, three sets, but he pulled out a win over a boy with a higher UTR (universal tennis rating) than his. 

Mobile was super hot. Extremely hot. That's Mark with his cooling towel on with ice and eating an apple sauce. 

Towards the evening, he and Joseph Lee played doubles which was a two set match here. Unfortunately, although their match was close, they lost. 

Mark spent some time in the shade, playing ping pong with the Babolat rep (who knows Cameron, Mark's coach). A bunch of boys were hanging out together here, playing games and spinning the prize wheel. Looks like no one cares about COVID-19 around here, right? That's one thing that was making me nervous with all the crowds and players and traveling...

Mark played another match the following day but, somehow, couldn't get around the opponent. The kid really knew how to push Mark's buttons and figured out how to beat Mark by not letting him play his game. Smart. Annoying though;). It was not a pleasant match, but such is tennis. 

We drove around a bit as I was trying to find pretty places in the area. I probably took wrong turns as we didn't get anywhere fabulous. 

Mark also lost his third match against a very high quality player on the following day. It was a good match but Mark was mentally too defeated, so it was tough. 

I did drag him to Downtown Mobile for some beignets but that didn't sweeten the mood...

Mark had one last shot at getting some points from his fourth match. He played really well and yet lost again. 

He definitely was better emotionally and kept his cool. It was also an umpired match, so that was pretty awesome.

And he received a sportsmanship token after this match. 

Four matches was all Mark got as if he had won this last match, he could have kept going. It's all right! He gained invaluable experience and learned a ton. It was an amazing opportunity that he even could go to such a high level tournament. I hear we better get used to it as he is climbing his way up the rankings. This kid has loads of work to do but he is ready for it and ready to be patient with the road ahead. 

Till next time! Hoping he gets into the National Champs in Mobile next year for the 14s! 

Lyana. 

P.S. We headed to Fort Walton Beach after the tournament, but that's a story for another blog post.