As I reflect on the war and peace that materialized on the Warrior courts last night, one dominant emotion serves my soul this morning... GRATITUDE. Here are a few of the many reasons this tennis coach can be grateful (Scroll to the end if you just want to see the scores).
Grateful for Opponents
I'm grateful for our opponents, Warren County, who brought their top tennis games.
I'm grateful for our opposing coaches, who are sacrificing time and energy to seek the good of their athletes.
I'm grateful for the opposing team parents, who offered so many kind words for Warrior hospitality and fight.
I'm grateful for the opposing athletes and parents who stayed late to help us clean up our courts afterwards. That kind of sportsmanship is rare and of the highest caliber.
I'm grateful for Chad, Abby, and Craig. I hope our friendships transcend tennis for many years to come.
I'm grateful that our opponents fought a mental and physical slugfest of a war on the courts, but endeavored to find peace in friendships across county lines after passing through the gates back to the benches. I'm grateful for you, Warren County Tennis.
Grateful for Warrior Supporters
I'm grateful for Team Powers and Domino's Pizza for being our season sponsor and feeding our home athletes through our longest and latest matches.
I'm grateful for the Gottlied family providing a hospitality table of snacks and drinks for our opponents.
I'm grateful for Colwell family, donating new squeegie rollers so we can dry courts quicker in case it rains.
I'm grateful for Tricia Frasier, for organizing publicity and provisions for our athletes.
I'm grateful that our Athletic Director, Terry Crain, our Principal, Mr. Wilson, and Assistant Principal, Nathan Aaron, made a stop by the courts to check in on athletes.
I'm grateful for our superintendent, Kurt Dronebarger, and school board, who approved volunteer coaches like me and approve homeschoolers to participate in sports.
I'm grateful for the parents who brought cases of drinks to keep these athletes ready for the season.
I'm grateful for the work of bookkeeper April Smith who ensured we had tennis balls and the supplies we needed.
I'm grateful for Marsha Jackson and the middle school tennis team for purchasing 10 Warrior colored folding chairs to go on court for teams to sit comfortably on changeovers.
I'm grateful for the anonymous family who purchased the other 10 chairs.
I'm grateful for Gabriel Wiles, Ethan Wiles, and John Gottlied, who spent an hour before the match setting up chairs, canopies, trash cans, scoring tubes, tables, and helped hang court numbers. I'm grateful for Micah Wiles & Tyler Tolhurst who stayed late for final court closing procedures and cleanup. These are some great guys.
I'm grateful for Guy Goff, an assistant coach with our middle school team, who came out to support local tennis.
I'm grateful for Tyler Tolhurst, a representative of Tennis Upper Cumberland, who drove from Livingston to watch the growth of tennis in our area and support these athletes.
I'm grateful for Jamie McCormick, from the Expositor Newspaper, who invested so much time in showcasing the best moments of our players.
I'm grateful for the tennis parents, who stayed late on a school night through one of the longest and latest matches I've ever seen.
I'm grateful for our County Commissioners and County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson who maintain upkeep on these courts for us to have a public place to play.
I'm grateful for neighbors who came out to support, reminding me that White County is a great place to live.
I'm grateful for my wife, who brings cookies and inspiration to cheer my soul in tough moments, makes sure I'm fed physically and spiritually during enduring matches, and brings my beautiful children to give me hugs at just the right time.
Grateful for our Team
I'm grateful for Coach Mixon Moore who puts so much effort into learning the advanced nuances of coaching this great game.
I'm grateful for #1 Nia, whose integrity holds supreme and whose stamina is unending.
I'm grateful for #2 Kate, whose smile is infectious and whose overhead slams bring the crowd to their feet.
I'm grateful for #3 Marian, whose quiet determination inspires others and whose baseline grinding is dependable.
I'm grateful for #4 Lilly, whose desire is unquenchable and whose forehand is so graceful.
I'm grateful for #5 Lorelei, whose fight is enduringly gritty and whose serve is formidable.
I'm grateful for #6 Brianna, whose sweetness is endearing and whose net play is steadfast.
I'm grateful for Abbey, Madalyn, Autumn, Catherine, Amber, and Alexis, who gave literal blood, sweat, and tears in their first home matches of the rookie seasons as they work and learn how they contribute to Warriorette tennis success.
I'm grateful for #1 Gabriel, whose coachability is unparalleled and whose depth is deceptively devastating.
I'm grateful for #2 Noah, whose confidence is crippling (for opponents) and whose slams are demoralizing.
I'm grateful for #3 Max, whose camaraderie is the stuff that glues teams together and whose open stance forehand is outright punishing.
I'm grateful for #4 Jack, whose tenacity is indominable and whose slice serve is disarming.
I'm grateful for #5 John David, whose faith is unwavering and whose stroke production is the prettiest tennis on the squad.
I'm grateful for #6 Logan, whose tranquility brings peace and whose foot speed never slows.
I'm grateful for Thomas, James, and Jet, whose first rookie home matches saw success, growth, and who round out one of the best squads I've ever been blessed to coach. Men, your joy lights up my life.
I bet at this point, you want to know about scores, don't you? First, let me give you a victory score that didn't make it on the white board, but that I'm sure got eternal notice.
The BIGGEST Score: Before one of our boys took the court for his singles match, he came up to me asking for something special to take onto red & gray acrylic: He asked for a Good Book. I was momentarily surprised, because athletes usually ask me to regrip a racquet or find a new vibration dampener, or impart some grandiose wisdom to tip the tennis scales in their favor. He just wanted a very special Good Book. In the day of cell phones where Good Books are plentifully downloaded, I still carry a Good Book in my truck, as it brings me peace to sit in a parking lot and read it on my most challenging days. So, a Good Book travelled onto court 3. A little while later, I became misty eyed when passing by his court as I witnessed this player sharing something good from a Good Book. This unrehearsed, unplanned, and unassuming moment of sharing at the net post where battles are fought, won, and lost is the stuff of legend. I have an entire room full of historical and devotional books documenting heroes of faith past and present who kept their priorities in the highest of order honoring the One who gave them the sweet gift of Life. Today I'm grateful; grateful for the One who allowed me to witness the moment. I'm grateful to Jamie McCormick, who captured the moment on photo. I'm grateful for the young hero of faith who sat in a maroon chair last night and displayed understanding of the deeper meaning of our motto, "Tennis starts at Love and begins with Service." In this photo, I'm grateful for war that the racquet represents and Peace from a Good Book.
Photo Credit: Jamie McCormick with the Expositor News
Warriorette Report:
I always report the ladies score first, because around here, ladies still have the honor of going first.
Our White County Warriorettes fought and fought and fought some more to an extremely close scoreline of a 3-6 loss to a superior Warren County team. Unless you were there, you can't understand just how close this match was to a 6-3 win. Warren County brought a more experienced and more developed team that has poured countless hours into their off season tennis (I know, I've trained some of them in private lessons!), and it showed last night in this slugfest that had tensions running high and the crowd on their feet in tight moments. I'm proud of our ladies and grateful for their fight. And if you didn't witness Nia and Kate bringing the rain and pain down at the net dropping the hammer on some smashes, you missed a dominate performance avenging Nia's close loss in singles. I was glad to see that competitive spirit unquenched by the time doubles came around! Remember ladies, the season has just begun and my notes page was full last night of high priority development that will take this team to greater heights by the district tournament. The Warriorettes are now 1-1 in the district play after beating DeKalb 9-0 in a shutout last week. Here are my whiteboard results:
Ladies Singles
Nia Powers vs. M. Rowland - Loss - 6-8
Marian Swindell vs. E Rowland - Win - 8-4
Kate Frasier vs. Jackson - Win - 8-6
Colwell vs. Graves - Loss - 2-8
Bouldin vs. Caten - Loss - 6-8
Stone vs. Stewart - Loss - 1-8
Ladies Doubles
Powers/Frasier vs. E Rowland/Jackson - Win - 8-1
Swindell/Colwell vs. M Rowland/Graves - Loss - 4-8
Bouldin/Stone vs. Caten/Netherton - Loss 6-8
Madalyn Scott and Abbey Moore fought to a 1-8 loss in doubles exhibition. Catherine & Alexis Jones learned much in a challenging 0-8 loss in doubles exhibition. Autumn Birdwell and Amber Mercada played the latest match of the night in doubles exhibition losing 1-8 and learning a lot about the tough sport of tennis along the way. I'm grateful these players are patiently learning the game increasing the depth of our current and future tennis teams. Seriously, with four score lines on the women's side going to 14 games, this was a seriously late night of tennis. I'm grateful to you parents for sticking around through an unusually late night of tennis.
Warriors Report
Jack Bouldin showed extreme determination as sweat was pouring down his shirt in that 4th line "extra innings" win, consolidating the first Warriors district shutout that I can remember 9-0. It can't be understated how hard these guys have worked to prevail so strongly against an older, more developed, better resourced team like Warren County. I would be remiss if I didn't praise the Warren County boys team also for their perseverance and sportsmanship throughout all 9 mainline matches. I'm hopeful that these two squads will develop friendships that last beyond high school tennis. Back to our Warriors, Simmons and Durfee displayed an extra level of homecourt consistency in this match winning handily. Wiles and Gately played extremely strategic showing the mental development they've undergone as they grow in their game. Rookie Logan Dickerson dominated that six singles line in his district tennis debut. And what about the Doubles chemistry we have going on in all three of these pairings!?! The mojo was moving on the doubles teams in these matches with very smart performances, which makes me proud. Guys, my notes page was full after your solid win too, so don't rest for too long! We've got more room to grow yet ahead before district tournament in May!
Mens Singles
Gabriel Wiles vs. M. Caten - Win - 8-5
Noah Gately vs Patterson - Win - 8-3
Max Simmons vs. Higgins - Win - 8-3
Jack Bouldin vs. J. Caten - Win - 9-7
John David Durfee vs. Moore - Win - 8-1
Logan Dickerson vs. (Substitution, name not recorded) - Win - 8-1
Mens Doubles
Gately/Bouldin vs M. Caten/Patterson - Win - 8-6
Wiles/Simmons vs. Higgins/J. Caten - Win - 8-2
Durfee/Dickerson vs. Moore/Substitute - Win - 8-4
Thomas Paul moved those lightning fast feet in a tough 4-8 loss in singles exhibition. James Frady and Jet Drouillard developed through a challenging 2-8 loss in doubles exhibition. I'm grateful for their willingness to provide bench depth on our team and development opportunities for later this season and future seasons. These rookies are going to keep getting better and soon will be flipping those scorelines around! The Warrior tennis team is now 1-1 in district play after a close loss to DeKalb County.
Wrapping Up
I'm grateful for those athletes and parents from both teams who helped us wrap up a great night of tennis in the Upper Cumberland. I left exhausted but with a full heart because of you all. Our next match will be at home after spring break on April 4th vs. Livingston Academy. But, come on out today to the Warrior tennis courts as the White County Middle School Teams embark on their first match of the season at home vs. Algood Middle School at 3:30 pm!
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Saul of Tarsus
Awesome time! Appreciate the hospitality and what you all represent. -Chef