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Basketball Versus Tennis—Challenge: Take your Kids out Of that Basketball Team and Put them INTO TENNIS—YOU WILL SEE A BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!
How could I make such a challenge you ask? I will compare Basketball to tennis in this blog, and then you take the BasketBall or Tennis Challenge and you tell me what you come up with. I bet you will be surprised.
Basketball is a game that does require a certain standard to be met in order for a youth to participate in an organized team effort. Basketball scholarships pick from the best of the best talent in that sport. Basketball is only for the best, fastest, or tallest with skill. Basketball leaves out the opportunitie for mediocre people to progress in that sport.
Youth basketball is great for team effort. But tennis reminds me of chess. My son Jay Jewels plays in the Youth and Tennis Academy and he explains it this way, “Tennis is a game of thinking and control. You have to think where you are gonna hit the ball. It’s like chess….before the person makes their move you gotta know where you are going to hit it.” My son plays at Cunningham Winter Bubble every Friday and Sunday night. What a great activity! When it is 10:00 I do know where my child is—he is at tennis until atleast 10p.m. My child loves the game and is ranked 44 in 100. He has a lot of practice to put in but he loves it. The kids love the friendships that they build. My child Jay Jewels is 13 years old. So it is important to him to feel like one of the crowd. The tennis kids are very nice indeed. Basketball kids are even more nice.
My son Jay Jewels answered my question of what is different in the thoughts of basketball player he stated, ” In basketball you have to think with the team. You have to keep the ball moving and look for openings to throw it to your team members so you can score or dunk it.Here is an small interview with Jay Jewels my in-house “tennis pro in training.”
Q: When did you start playing tennis?
Jay Jewels: I dunno, 5 years ago.
Q: Did you like tennis when you first started?
Jay Jewels: No. I thought it was not cool to play tennis.
Q: When did you begin to like playing Tennis?
Jay Jewels: I started to like tennis when I began to beat people at the game.
Q: Did you have any good experiences that stick out in your mind?
Jay Jewels: When I beat one of the coaches at tennis and he paid me $5.00.
Q: Did you ever play baskeball?
Jay Jewels: Yes.
Q: How do you feel about basketball?
Jay Jewels: What I think about basketball is that it is really fun to play. I like blocking people from making their shots. I like crossin’ em’ up! Its really awesome My Dude!!!
Q: Do you like tennis more than basketball?
Jay Jewels: I have been with basketball for nine years. The beginning with my love of sports came from basketball.
Q: So what has made the change in your attitude?
Jay Jewels: Tennis tests your ability to focus your mind on the most important goal of getting the ball past you oponent. There is more of a chance of getting a point in tennis than in basketball. It you make the person miss the ball that you volley back to them then you gain points. But in basketball, you have to shoot the ball in the hoop.
Q: Does height matter, or weight matter in both tennis or basketball.
Jay Jewels: The weight of a player in tennis does matter, because, you know….if you can’t get to the ball in time you will miss the volley. You oponent will get the point. When you are serving in tennis and you are short–you have to aim higher to get the ball over the net.
Q: How is it for people who are tall?
Jay Jewels: Easy!
Q: Are people you have seen playing tennis either tall or medium in height? Are they allowed to play no matter how tall or short they are?
Jay Jewels: Well, just a minute. Getting back to basketball, for a second, on the team called Atlanta Hawks, there was a basketball player who was five nine who dunked. (the basketball) I can’t remember his name ….but he played very well. Well, in basketball if you small and have no game, or handle or something like that, there is no point of you being on the team. But in tennis you can basically be any height you want to be. It just depends on how you serve that ball, how far, and how fast! It is more one on one competition! And there is doubles too.
Q: What you do plan to do with you skills in tennis Jay Jewels?
Jay Jewels: I want a private teacher, including the Youth and Tennis Academy with Bill Briggs. I also want to get sponsored to play. I want to use my tennis playing to get scholarships for college.
Q: How long can you last in the game if you became pro?
Jay Jewels: Around to your thirties, and then you retire. Afterward I would coach.
Q: How much do coaches make?
Jay Jewels: Some coaches make $95.00 per hour.
Q: How could you stand to toss the ball and no longer be able to play the game like you did when you were younger….have you thought about it like that?
Jay Jewels: You can play still. You can still play even if you are old. There are people that look like they are in their seventies on the courts.
Q: Would you feel good helping and coaching someone else?
Jay Jewels: Well, if they became someone known and famous because of my coaching then that would be good. And people would know that I had helped them.
END OF INTERVIEW —
Q: Thanks Jay Jewels for your insight. Is there anything else you would like to say regarding Tennis vs Basketball?
Jay Jewels: No.
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Well, parents you have it from my son Jay Jewels.
Try to test out different sports. You never know how it will shape your child’s interests, goals and future.
Reply or comment.
Till next sports talk……
I’m RIVEROFLIFELISAJOY
Website: www.youthandtennis.org
—UPDATE—-MARCH 28 DAY OF CHAMPIONS AT ROY WILKINS PARK! TENNIS BEGINS AGAIN IN THE OUTDOORS!*****TENNIS AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF JR. TENNIS AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT– SAVED MY SON’S LIFE AND MINE TOO!
About nine years ago we lost my husband to a catastrophic disease. I had to start all over again from scratch. I lost my house, and credit rating, my furniture, and my pets too. I also lost my best friend–my husband.
Many people in the church told me to start new memories and new dreams because my son depended on me for support. My child was only 5 when his father was snatched from our lives.
I found the National Academy of Jr. Tennis and Youth Development—Youth and Tennis, INC. with the CEO Bill Briggs in charge, at the SouthEast Queens Roy Wilkins Park. I saw my son blossom into Tennis. I took him when was about 8 or nine years old.
He was a bit shy at first but he soon got the hang of it. The Tennis coaches were the best. The program runs year round. In the summer they play in Roy Wilkins and Liberty Park. In the Winter they go indoors to the “bubbles.”
My son loves it! He has alot of great kids to play and be associated with. Every year they have a dinner dance called the Golden Tennis Ball and Award Ceremony that I try to participate in. It is a fabulous activity!
I volunteer whenever possible. It is a great program for all children. Many of the community politicans have assisted have become friends of the program. They have activities like T-shirt day, Kids day, picnics and barbeques! What a great way to socialize in a controled setting!!!
My personal involvement has been singing two times for Christmas Party events held for the children. I have also helped one time to conduct a Christmas carol part for the children. It was great fun.
Loss of a loved one does not have to end your own life. Get out and do something! Even if that means you volunteer at the local Library. Try the hospitals too. They love volunteers. Volunteering does your heart good and takes you mind off the issues that haunt you. Sometimes those issues can disappear.
I know that my husband would have wanted me to go on and continue to do good and positive things in life. I know because he told me. He said, “No matter what happens to me take good care of my son–I know that you are a good mother.”
He also told me not to stop singing either! I have continued singing. I have found so many positive ways to remember someone who had always been an inspiration to me—by continuing to do the things that he loved most about me!!!
My thoughts on the CEO Bill Briggs of the Youth and Tennis Inc. is that he is a great, great mentor of youth in the entire five boroughs….not just Queens. I have seen young people that have completed the program stop by to visit and pay their respects to this great man. He is a mover and a shaker in the community!!!!
We need to let people know when they do a great job—We need to show our black youth and children of all races, incons that support positive attitudes and character building mentalities.
When my son took sick over the past few years Mr. Briggs took an active role and he asked my son how he was feeling! I sent my son to summer camp and he felt the bonding with the other tennis players and the coaches. My son was able to move on from a negative circumstance of his illness and stay focused on the game of tennis.
My son’s health is still being monitored, but he has been feeling a bit better. Mr. Briggs has several programs that I think are also great.
My son had gotten attacked by a gang just before graduation from junior highschool this year- and he was really out of it for nearly a month. He did not want to play tennis or even go outside. I took him to the hospital because he was sleeping entirely too much. The doctors could not find anything.
I called Mr. Briggs and told him why he had not seen my son for tennis every Saturday since the summer had begun. Mr. Briggs told me to have my son come out the next Saturday and contribute to “PROJECT GIVE BACK” in which he would have to donate a few hours of his time to the younger players as a mentor coach. All he had to do was serve the ball and give pointers on how to improve the younger players game.
My son was a bit hesitant to go. But me, I proded and pushed and he got back out there on the court. Mr. Briggs was even kind enough to take my son to the teen court after he was finished helping the younger players in the morning. Soon after a couple of weekends of “PROJECT GIVE BACK” my son got back on the courts and was excited to get back and play competitive tennis with his friends!!!
It is difficult to explain how hard it is to tell your son that Daddy is not coming home again. It is difficult to explain how cold and cruel life can be sometimes. It is difficult to know how to hug away the pain of loss and feelings of abandonment. But I will tell you this—-I thank God for Bill Briggs and what the Youth and Tennis, INC—The National Academy of Jr. Tennis and Youth Development has done for my son, and me.
Thank you Bill Briggs for saving my son’s life and saving my life too.
Website: www.youthandtennis.org
I will blog more topics on sports and tennis as the spirit leads.
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