When you first walk through those doors freshman year, four years seem like forever. People tell you all the time that high school flies by, but as a freshman you never believe them. But after joining the team and making millions of memories you start to realize they were right. You now have countless memories and a team full of unbreakable bonds that you didn't even realize you were creating.
Ever since the moment you first picked up a racket and joined the team, you’ve waited for this year. Senior year. All those years of endless rallying and soreness have lead you to being the top of your flight. You now understand and feel the added pressure to perform and to set a good example for the underclassmen. But what you may not understand, quite just yet, is how important that team is to you. You’ll realize this at the same moment you realize you're no longer a part of that team. The year after you graduate, it will hit you hard. You’ll see tennis season come around, your teammates will start to post throwback pictures from last season because of the excitement for the upcoming one. Meanwhile, instead of feeling your usual excited anticipation for the season you’ll get a knot in the pit of your stomach, a longing to be a part of that once again.
Shortly after this, you will realize how much this sport means to you. In that moment it will occur to you that would trade this feeling for any of the practices you once dreaded going to after school. Getting up at 6 am for a 7 am tournament will sound like heaven. One day, should you decide to go, you will go back and support your old teammates at one of their tournaments. This day will hurt you the most. The team will be happy to see you and thank you numerous times for coming out to support them, but you’ll still feel empty. Sitting there in the grass alongside the courts biting your tongue trying not to call balls out or yell "Watch it!" you'll unconsciously wait for your flight to be called to get your chance to play your match. Your name won’t be called though.
But you’ll soon realize that’s okay. It will soon hit you as a bittersweet moment. These girls that you grew up with, mentored and bonded with are all about to move on to achieve bigger and better things and in one way or another you helped them reach this moment. Once you recognize this, watching the team play becomes more bittersweet than painful. Of course, you will always have the feeling of longing to play, but the thing about tennis is that the sport and its lessons will grow with you no matter what stage of life you’re in. You will never have another team like your high school team, who learned to love the sport and created millions of memories with you. Above all, you will always remember that “you only live once, but you get to serve twice” and of course that “love means nothing.”
