2010. It's a new year, a new decade, and my tenth college reunion is coming up in five months. Wow, 10 YEARS already! (Incidentally, this milestone also marks 10 years that I've been running CollegeTennisOnline.com, but we'll talk about that in a separate article). In fact, I first stepped onto campus with my big, red Wilson racquet bag almost 14 years ago - seemed like just yesterday, and yet it was a whole different century. A time when Paperboy's Ditty was the hit song played at all the college parties - some of you youngun's probably don't even know who that was!
Now, when I get email newsletters from the team's new coach (I guess I shouldn't call him new - it's his 10th year now too), I enjoy reading about the current team's travels and adventures and enviously wish to relive the glory days. The memories flood back, and strangely enough, I can barely remember the matches, the scores, the wins and the losses. Yet when I was playing, that was all that mattered. The wins were such highs, and the losses so painful. So many chances, so many what-ifs. What if I had just made that forehand passing shot. What if I didn't double fault at 3-3 in the tiebreak. What if my opponent hadn't hooked me? What if that ball had rolled back onto the opponent's side after hitting the net, instead of rolling over to mine? It was great when I won, but it was the end of the world when I lost, feeling like an unfulfilled dream shattering around me.
But now, looking back, I realize, what really would have changed had I won a few more matches - or lost a few more? Would it have changed my life? Was adding one more notch on the win column so important? At this point, I can barely remember the matches I played, much less the result.
But what I do remember are my teammates, and the experiences I shared with them. I remember freshmen year on the rainy night that was tennis initiations, the feeling of cameraderie and my first drink of alcohol, as we toasted each other and our new brotherhood. (I don't remember my first keg stand and being taken to the infirmary later on that night, but I was told about it). I remember our trips to California during spring break, our breakfasts at IHOP, and the ocean sparkling in the sun as we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to play Pepperdine. I'll never forget an amazing team trip to Europe, sponsored by a generous alumnae, where we travelled to Belgium, France, England, and met the President of Ireland. Or how can you beat playing a college match at Indian Wells and then watching the Williams sister's battling it out in the finals afterwards?
Even the less glamourous events hold a treasured seat upon the mantle of my memories. The late night trips driving to the next hotel before an early 9am match, the two a day practices during Fall Break, running stadiums and playing basketball during the offseason.
Now, ten years later, I still keep in touch with my old college tennis buddies. We hold a unique bond that we forever share with each other, having worked together towards a common goal, and having pushed each other to be the best we could be, as humans and as tennis players. It's not quite the same as before, hanging out each night at the dorm room college party, but instead every other year at each other's wedding. But still, every time I get together with an old tennis teammate, it's like no time has passed, and we're 19 again, warriors of the court, ready to take on the world.
So as a new decade dawns, and a new year of practices, tournaments, matches, and broken strings begins anew, whether you're a freshmen stepping onto the court for your first team match, or a hardened senior playing in your last tournament, take a step back to appreciate what's REALLY important to you and what you WILL remember ten, fifteen, forty years from now - your fellow teammates - brothers (or sisters) for life.
