Up Next
2011 in review
Overheard and overseen at junior tournaments . . .
- Mom of 2 junior players: That ball was on the line. She should’ve called it out!
- When the official left the court to attend to a medical time-out during a particularly contentious match involving a notorious cheater, and the other player refused to play without an official on the court . . . On-Court referee: The Code says play must be continuous. Player: The Code also says I’m entitled to a line judge!
- Tennis Mom’s complaint to the tournament director after her (seeded) son lost to a non-seeded, formerly top-20-in-the-nation-but-returning-from-injury player in the first round: This isn’t fair! We traveled all Fall so my son could improve his ranking so he would be seeded in this tournament!
- An on-court official, who wasn’t watching the match, over-ruled a line call even after the player showed her the precise mark on the court. The official’s call stood because she’s the official. When the player protested, the official stood her ground. When the player got frustrated with the official and lost his temper, the official gave him a code violation.
- A player admittedly “tanked” a match against the top seed because he didn’t feel like he was playing well that morning. The parent (NOT the player’s parent) who was responsible for the player that day was agonizing over how to handle this with the player’s parent – should he tell the parent that her child tanked on purpose? Should he just hope that she hears about it from the other kids and parents? Should he tell the coach? What would you do in this situation?
- After a player lost his match, he slumped his way back to the car. His dad followed him, verbally berating him the entire way. Once inside the car, the dad continued to shout at his son – so loudly that those of us in the parking lot could hear even though the car doors were closed – then began physically abusing him.
- Dad (regarding cheating son): I hate that my son cheats. Somebody needs to do something about him and his cheating. <Note to dad: I think that’s YOUR job!>
I would love to hear your tournament stories – we all have some good ones, right?
