Summer in SoCal

Well it's been quite a while since I have posted here on Kohawk tennis, mostly because I have been away in California working in a non-Kohawk context. For the past 6 weeks (with a break the week of Independence Day) I have been running the junior tennis camps at the University of California at Irvine. It is similar to the Kohawk tennis from back in June, except that it is non-boarding, going from 9am-4pm, M-F. It has been a rewarding experience instructing kids of every ability level, however week after week of being on the court in the sun all day is quite draining!

Other than teaching, my summer has been filled with spending time with family and friends, and also being involved with the inaugural Michael Chang Tennis Classic. The tournament raises money for the Chang Family Foundation as well as Japanese tsunami relief through the Salvation Army. My mom was the tournament director, so naturally my entire family volunteered to help out.

The Saturday prior to the tournament, there was a two-hour kick-off clinic held for all ages--I was one of 8 coaches on 7 courts with 130+ participants! It was a bit intimidating to be introduced by Michael next to several far more esteemed coaches, such as Carl Chang and Elliott Telscher (not to mention Michael himself). However, I ended up having a fun time with all of the participants, and think I held my own and represented Kohawk Tennis well.

The following weekend (July 29-31), I ran one of the tournament sites Friday, lost on the 1st round of the Men's Open Doubles draw Saturday (partnered with a fellow camp coach who asked me to play at the last minute), and then worked at the main site all day Sunday, helping run the tournament desk as well as training and managing the volunteer ball-kids for the open singles finals. Funny to come full circle after having been a ball-kid for Michael at a tournament he won at UCLA back in 2000 which was actually his final ATP Tour title!

The caliber of play at the event was pretty high for a first year charity tournament, especially in the open divisions. In the men's singles final, 2003 Kalamazoo champion and former touring pro, Robert Yim, defeated 2009 Australian Open Boys Doubles champion and current Fresno State player, Francis Alcantara, in a 2.5 hour 3 set match match--the ball kids were thrilled, but definitely exhausted by the end! Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Alcantara, he still had his semi and final men's doubles matches ahead of him, the latter of which finished around 10:30 pm. And actually the last match to finish was the men's 3.5 doubles final, in which Michael's dad, Joe, lost in 3 sets!

It was a long and challenging weekend for everyone involved, but worth it to work with Michael Chang and his wonderful family, not to mention for a good cause. The photo below was taken as the lights were being shut off on us on our last day. Sorry for the dimness, but hopefully you can make out Michael and his wife Amber on the left and me in my Kohawk gear on the right. And that's my lovely mom in the middle in white!

Anyway, this is the final week of the UCI camp and I am looking forward to coming back to Coe next Monday. And I can't believe the Kohawk women start practice in a couple of weeks!