Michael Hutsko out of the
Miami / Dade County tennis league took some time to reflect on what the league means to him. We received permission to make edits but the story is mostly un-edited and was written after the 2014 End of the Year Tourney.
After
my match tonight at Crandon, I stopped by The Rusty Pelican. I sat
alone outside by the fire pit, enjoyed a cocktail and the view of the
brightly-lit downtown, and took some time to reflect.
I
wanted to thank you and your team for the work with the 2014 EOY Miami Tourney.
From my perspective, it was a great success. I knew going in that my
stamina was going to be tested--I don't think I've ever played that many
matches in a three-day period--but I came out with a much better game
than I went in and, as I told you, I was satisfied with my trajectory.
The players were friendly but competitive. The venue (Crandon Park Tennis Center) was great. My
group had great, close matches. Victor Chang did play excellent in the final. I am a little disappointed at losing my
THIRD career final (as well as one USTA 4.0 tournament final), but I
know why I lost. If I am going to win those matches, I need to spend
more time working on my game.
And, I also
wanted to thank your team for the commitment to this business in general.
I'm
happy I got to meet you and a couple of the team members when you were in Miami, but we didn't get to
talk too much. I don't know if you realize how much of a positive
effect you have on people by leading this business and doing so with
such effectiveness. It's a tennis network in cities across the
nation that includes people that are becoming more physically fit.
Without your league, I think a lot of people would either play tennis
less often, or even quit it altogether. I know you have to deal with
competing organizations of the same type, so, yes, some players have
options. I suppose I'm speaking for myself when I say, without
Tennis-Miami, it is extremely likely I would play sporadic tennis, and
maybe an occasional USTA tournament (I played six, I think, last year,
which I enjoyed, but I had to travel a decent distance for most of them,
and they are not frequent). I'm in better physical shape, and I now
pay more attention to my health, and your program plays a big part in that.
 |
| Madame Tussaud's in Vegas |
And,
of course, there is what the game of tennis teaches us about how we
understand ourselves. I've always loved tennis because it's a game that
pits me against one opponent that is a puzzle I have to figure out. I
will face adversity during the match. How will I react? How will I deal
with it? What does that say about me? How can I be better? And how
does that relate to how I handle other life situations? Tennis is so
much more than a game of running around, hitting a ball, and trying to
win.
The program groups players by level very well, and that fair competition is integral to the experience of the players.
I
guess what I wanted to say is this. It's an awesome thing when you
find something that you're great at and can bring value to others that
you get to do for a living. You and your program have an enormous positive effect on
people. I'm betting when YOU wake up in the morning, you
can be proud of how much of a positive impact you make on others.
So, thanks for all you do.
The Warner Tennis Center at 6336 Canoga Park, Woodland Hills CA is such a wonderful facility run by owner Tim Schnaible. We the facility hoping with the 32 tournament participates from 5 different cities in Tennis League Network. Representations were mainly from TennisLosAngeles.com but we also had players from TennisOC.com, ChiTownTennis.com, Metro Boston Tennis League and TennisMinneapolis.com.
