Game, Set, Match!

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I DID IT!  I officially crossed off one item from my turning 50 Bucket List.

Back in August, I wrote about the 4 things I wanted to accomplish before I turned 50!

 (you can read the original article here).

tennis

I grew up in Florida in a community where everyone either played golf or tennis.  I hated golf — so I dabbled in tennis with youth camps and fun stuff that my parents signed me up for.  I never played for high school or anything like that.  Just for fun.

My younger brother, Shane, on the other hand, was a tennis genius and at one time was ranked in the state as a pre-teen.  My only experience with a tennis tournament was my living room TV or watching my brother from the sidelines.

Jump ahead 30 years and I decided to pick up a racquet again – this came after a visit to Florida to see my sister, Trista.   She is a member of a Tennis club and has been playing as an adult for several years.

tennis

My bucket list item was to jump into the sport of tennis and to compete in a tennis tournament.  So – in August I started taking regular lessons from a tennis pro and I started meeting new tennis friends.

After four months of being “serious” with my game — I signed up for a USTA tennis tournament here in Corpus Christi. 

It was super scary and I literally cried on the drive to the courts.  Why was I so nervous? 

Well, many reasons – but the main one being I knew that I was going into this tournament to lose.  I am not telling you this because I am phishing for compliments.  I am being honest — I am very new to the sport, I have never played competitively in any sport, and before the tournament, I had only played 2 official tennis matches with points.  But I needed this first tournament to help me gain the experience for more future competitions.

I did – in fact – lose the tournament.  But, I learned a lot about myself and the sport.  My game improved from just the first match to the second match of the tournament.  I know what I need to work on before signing up for another tournament.  And YES, there will be more — I am definitely hooked.

My biggest accomplishment from this brief tennis experience is the ladies I have met.  There is a beautiful group of ladies that have taken me into their small circle.  They not only let me learn from them — but they are full of encouragement and advice.  Some of the ladies literally met me a month ago — and yet they are treating me like an original member of their tennis tribe.

You are never too old to start something new — no matter how scary it feels.  And you might just make some cool new friends!

Stay tuned (yup, I’m that old – I still say tuned LOL) to the blog – for more check-offs from the turning 50 bucket list.

 

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Darcy Esparza
Darcy started her professional career in CC in 1994 and immediately moved away for her job, got married to her husband, Louie, and started her family before moving back to the Coastal Bend in 2012. Darcy grew up in Florida before making Texas her home. She has a journalism degree from the University of Florida but is more known for her middle school math teaching career and her now title as co-owner of a local mattress store, BoxDrop Mattress (social medial handle @boxdropcc). Darcy and Louie have been married for more than 20 years, have 4 children, 2 granddaughters, and 2 dogs.