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- Why Tennis Is My Lifetime Sport
I started playing tennis in the 70’s (fell in love with it right away) and had wood as my first racket. I was born in the Philippines and grow up in Manila. Tennis is more like a luxury game in the Philippines. We are poor; hence, I cannot afford to play on a tennis court or hire a trainer for that matter. So, I ended up playing against a wall. I cannot find any formal backboard where you can hit so, I hit against the wall of any building that was available. When I moved to the USA in the 90’s that’s when I started playing formal tennis. I joined a club, played singles in small leagues, and had a group of friends that played together or played at WTT, etc. But then my tennis never moves to a higher level that I want them to be. Partly because my family is growing, had two jobs at times, play sporadically (would play straight for one year then would stop playing for 2-3 years then play again). Some of my tennis buddies moved on their rankings and became solid players while I remained stagnant. Tennis was my passion. I worked with people with substance/gambling and mental health disorders. I worked for many years at San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital (our agency has contract with them) and it was quite a stressful job. But tennis helps me overcome all those burnout feelings. I am now 71 years old, semi-retired but I continue to play tennis at a higher level and am still working to improve my game. For many months now I have been training with Jesus Osuna (one of the pros at Mountain View Tennis Club) and it has been an incredibly positive experience. I am a self-taught tennis afficionado and training with Jesus has improved my game and confidence tremendously. My goal is to continue to play tennis, play in the league/tournaments up to the point where my body would say, “okay Edgar time for you stop.” Other than that, I will continue to play tennis! Written By: Edgar Capacio