Sports N' All

I am now focused on relating my experience of the last 4  years traveling with my daughter to tournaments and navigating the Tennis landscape to help educate and benefit other parents. There are a lot of opportunities to optimize where you spend time and determine where you don’t have to waste time. This is also true for expenses. There are also opportunities to help advance the career for the kids with the right guidance and support for growth in skills and ability. The following are some of the main focus areas for us - 

1.    Training (Non-tournament time)
Training is during tournaments as well as when practicing technique, balance, fitness and strategy while at the home tennis center. Let us address the latter (non-tournament time) first.

A part of the training involves coaches and a part that does not. Tennis coaches charge anywhere between $60 an hour to $100 to even $150 an hour. Since they cost so much and can be prohibitive for middle-class families in general, it is important for the parent to step it up and take control of training regimen for their kids.  This means during the non-tournament time observe and learn on “what to coach on” – that is, actively listen, observe, hear and learn from the coaches on what you can look for and manage so you can ensure the child is following what the coaches originally said. This important step in my routine has saved me financially. Now, I do play a lot of tennis myself and it certainly helps that I can capture nuances that the coaches may be saying, so it is possible this is not easy for parents not accustomed to the sport. The major point here is hard to afford tennis lessons during the entire week. I have found that what is optimal for me is 2 lessons (perhaps 1 group plus 1 private lesson) in a week and the rest of the days are either (1) Training that I can provide to my daughter, (2) Match-play that I can set up with other parents – or the tennis kids arrange by themselves.
 
My goal is to set up cheap tennis classes in the future that is affordable – and a level of instruction that I can administer which would be early ages of 5-7 years of age. I want to do this social service to offer good lessons based on experience and learning that doesn’t kill the finances of a regular family.

 2.    Training (tournament time)
This is largely driven and executed by parents. Coaches don’t travel unless their expenses are all paid by parents – which becomes easily more expensive that a lesson at home (hotel, travel, car, food, drinks). During tournament time, it is extremely important for parents to establish a rhythm and a system to cope with various needs – see below.

Purely in terms of training, the parent arranges pre-match practices usually early in the morning before 8 am before the actual matches kickoff (no courts are allocated to practices once the matches begin). Since the child usually prefers practicing with another parent, it should be meticulously arranged in advance to ensure availability and timeliness. On occasions, I have hit with my daughter to stand-in as a hitting partner.

What you practice is also regulated.

• Short hits
• Baseline hits
• Cross Court
• Down the lines
• High and Low ball
• Speeds
• Volleys
• Overheads
• Serves
• Any special needs

3.     Travel
In term of financial as well as scheduling impact, this is by far the most important. Develop a tournament schedule for the year for your child. This has to take into account your financial capability, availability of the parent during these times, travel times and cost, possibility of being able to miss school and make up for it, personal schedules, health issues and other. The key tournaments for a National level player are the Level 1, 2 and 3 tournaments. The more you are able to play in and deliver good results, you increase the points as a player and enable you to be ranked high on what is called an “endorsement” list for National ranking.
Book travel early whenever possible to get better fares and connections. The difference could be in hundreds of dollars! Given that the totals for a reasonable trip to say Florida from Seattle for 2 or 3  people may cost thousands, every hundred dollar saved will help. The return journey is always a bit difficult to book because in Tennis it is hard to predict when your child will be out of the competition (you continue to play until you lose or you end up winning the competition). In general we have arrived at a formula depending on how competitive the tournament is where we can predict how long  my daughter is expected to last in the competition. This is again a bit tricky but based on our experience, we are able to reasonably predict and plan return trips. If anyone is interested to hear more, I am happy to help.

4.    Lodging / Hotel
After the travel, the hotel is the next important item to figure out. A reasonable hotel anywhere costs between $110 to $150 a night. If the tournament runs 5 days, you are looking at a sum of money that just escalates the total cost. It is important to select hotels that provide free breakfast. The last thing you want on a tournament days is to look for food early in the morning when there is no time to stop for food because the child has to get to the pre-match practice. Remember to take a couple of fruits from the breakfast so your child can eat a banana (good for some energy during matches) or apple or an orange. Choose a hotel that is clean. Tip the housekeeping so they provide extra towels (for extra showers for the child) and clean the sheets well. Ensure your car is parked close to the hotel doors to hauling luggage and getting to the car is easy.
Note that some families nowadays prefer Airbnb or some other home rentals instead of hotels. There are advantages of having a kitchen and feeling of home in general, but there is added cost plus you don’t have a service you can call if your room has an issue or there is emergency repair needed. 
 
5.    Rental Car:
Having a comfortable / reliable car to transport from airport –to- hotel –to- tennis –to- restaurants is critical. Building a relationship with the same vendor and requesting / having some privileges will help a great deal. I have a car agreement with National Emerald that allows me to book easily, get a great car at good rates while allowing me to bypass the counter and go directly to the car. Saves time at critical times.
Make sure to leave somethings in the car that is needed wherever you go. Some food and drinks, extra shoes, sunglasses, parking permits (some hotels and tennis locations require special permits).

6.    Food and Drinks
While travel and hotel (lodging) are big-ticket items, food and drinks are not far behind. If 1 parent travels with the child (total of 2), the combination of lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, electrolytes, fruit juices can easily run $150 a day. You can pack a little ahead of time to alleviate, but the food needs to be fresh, healthy and safe for the child because if you fall sick, there is no tennis to be played.

7.    Health and Fitness
This may be the critical preparation of all. If there is no fitness and you can’t play, none of the above matters. In addition to tennis lessons, it is important to organize lessons or personal trainer to keep the player healthy and fit. Diet also matters of course in terms of eating healthy – solid level of Protein, Carbohydrates and required level of fat and sugar.
Parents should invest time and money on what works best for fitness for the child. Mileage of what’s required and what the child can do varies so it is best to consult a Doctor for advice. A fitness trainer can discuss what is optimal. A coach can also throw in some pointers.

8.    Equipment
For a craftsman, tools are central to their life. In similar vein, for a Tennis player, the racquet, the strings, the shoes, the right clothes, the sunscreen in the summer, protective bandages and tapes to protect sore areas, the towels, the right eye protections etc. form an extremely important aspect to the game. With the wrong racquet / strings, the child could injure themselves. Having the right racquet and strings that fit the child’s game will enhance the game and materially help the child advance. Finding the best combination requires trying out various racquets with different string configurations (poly, hybrid, plain etc.). Once comfortable, stick with the combination for a couple of years before progressing to stronger and heavier racquets as you grow.
The clothes, just like the racquets are expensive and need many pairs to account for the tournament schedule. Ask around for the right vendor and online / store options to decide what’s best. For a national player, it is possible to be sponsored for clothes although it is more common for racquets.

 9.  Pack your bag, get ready for the game
Pack your bag early and every day. Packing the bag the optimal way requires thoughtfulness about what you really need and don’t need. Figure things like change of clothes, towels for use during the match, hats or visors, extra shoes in case it gets torn during the match etc.
The key here is to have the right drinks with electrolytes to sustain hydration and body wellness during the match.