Got a question?
Ask a ToadBlogger!
The last 10 entries:

Subscribe to the ToadBlogs RSS Feed

Search the blogs:

A Whole Lotta Tennis

by Julie :: Thursday May 22, 2008

Sophomore year is already arriving at an end--we only have 30 days until graduation, and considering the one week of camping and finals week, we really don't have much time left. The last 2 weeks were the busiest weeks I've yet to face at Thacher: attending Sr. Ex's, a 1500 word research paper (I did mine on Queen Mary I), our last out-of-class English essay (on Their Eyes Were Watching God), SAT IIs and of course, the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.

The Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament is the oldest amateur tennis tournament in the US, started by none other than our school founder's brother. It is a old school tradition to help out with this tournament, and that's exactly what we sophomores did. Two weeks ago from Thursday to Sunday, we pulled all-day shifts at different positions. I had the luck of being able to experience all parts of the tournament by helping out with the computers, the Tea Tent and ball girling.

The computer station, although the longest shift, allowed me to experience what happens in the offices during the tournament: Amanda, Alex and I (all three of us coincidentally are ToadBloggers) answered phones and recorded/uploaded scores in the books and on the website all day long. While it was tiring, I felt like I was actually contributing something to the tournament, and it was a rewarding experience.

 The next day, I worked as a ball girl in four matches. Watching these talented players really made me want to grab the racket in my room and take up tennis again! Ball "birling" (boy + girl -ing) was at times exhausting: standing in the sun for 2 hours in the sun is not the most pleasant experience. (One bystander during a long rally remarked, "I hope they're paying you high bucks!" to which I could only respond with a faint smile.) Getting my visor signed by Farah and Van't Hof (who were the Men's doubles winners from USC), did make my day slightly more bearable though.

 On the last day, I was given the less rigorous job of helping out with the Tea Tent. I just arranged cookies in a platter and did some dishes, and during my breaks got to watch amazing tennis.

Overall, the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament was a fun, rewarding experience, but I think I'll prefer watching the game with a cool drink when it's time for next year's tournament.

* * *