Tennis, Anyone?

Annika played on our school’s champion-ship tennis team. Kind of. Well, not exactly.
First, our school doesn’t actually have a tennis team. And second, Annika hasn’t really played any tennis to speak of. None-the-less, she’s got a first-place medal in her top dresser drawer and a US$50 gift certificate from K-Swiss shoes.

Let me explain.

In Hong Kong, youth sports work a little different than in the States. Many of the sports in Hong Kong –including tennis- function outside of the school framework. All of the kids who are serious about tennis take private lesson two or three or five times a week with a coach or through a club. These kids play in events coordinated by their clubs and play in tournaments that their private coaches or their parents sign them up for.

But every once in a while, someone such as K-Swiss hosts a tennis tournaments specifically for schools. At this point our school’s tennis coach –whole doesn’t really do any coaching per se- puts out the word that he has signed the school up for the tournament and then tries to round up students to make a team.

We have two standout tennis players at our school: sixth-grader Cheryl and eighth-grader Eudice who is ranked number one in here age bracket and number nine among women of all ages in Hong Kong. But the tournament required teams to have at least three members. After hearing back from a few other girls from our school who weren’t available (viola lessons or Kumon tutoring), the coach approached Annika. At this point, he basically needed a warm body to fill the roster. Much to her relief, he was pretty sure that Annika wouldn’t actually have to play.

Oops. When they all got to the tournament, it turned out that Annika would have to take to the court. The girl that Annika was slotted to play was not all that brilliant and Annika managed to score a few points off of her! Eudice’s dad commented that Annika had a nice stroke and was surprised to hear that she had not really played much tennis. None-the-less two or three games in, Annika –as she and her coach had planned- approached one of the officials complained of a sore shoulder and explained that she would have to withdraw.

But it didn’t matter; her work was done. Eudice and Cheryl swept the doubles and Eudice blew away the competition in singles. International Christian School took first place in the 2010 K-Swiss tournament.

And none of it would have been possible without Annika.

I missed the tournament, but made it to the award ceremony. Annika seemed to vacillate between being embarrassed over the ridiculousness of it all and being proud that in her own way she made a contribution to winning the tournament.

Sometime your biggest contribution is just showing up.

-Jack