Jerry's Journey Begins...

At HIGH-TECH TENNIS, we meet loads of people. Some great, some not so great, but few as genuinely genuine as our favorite coach from South Carolina: JERRY ALBRIKES. We met him last year at the Macon BullFrog(!) and he asked us to record match(es) for him. Since that time, we've recorded probably dozens of matches for him...THIS COACH GETS IT! He recognizes the extreme value of using video to his advantage when it comes to getting the message across to his players - and his players are all the better for it! If you're in the Charleston area, do yourself a favor and stop in to meet Coach Jerry at Live to Play Tennis.

We still don't really know Coach Jerry very well, but we know he's a Minnesota Viking fan - and there just aren't that many of us around so that makes us like him all the more! We also think he's pretty special because he's always so genuinely nice to us: "Danny and Julie: Thanks again for the work you guys are doing. I truly appreciate it!" Wow - what a guy! Why is he the exception and not the norm? We know virtually all the coaches in the Southern Section and sure, we're friends with most of them, but I really have to wonder: why don't more coaches use video to SHOW their players instead of just TELLING them? YOU TELL ME.

Anyway, we saw Coach Jerry several times in passing over the weekend and, as usual, he asked us to record several matches for him...and this morning, we were included on the distribution of an email to share his big news: He'll be coaching Jelena Jankovic for the next 3 tournaments (Indian Hills, Miami, and Charleston)!!! :) I did some digging and it turns out, he was an impressive college player and was even named Athlete of the Year during his senior year in New England. His coaching career spans over 20 years and while he was at the Bolletteiri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, he trained tennis champs Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic (when she was just 11 years old).

I'm not into women's tennis even a tiny little bit (for one thing, it's way too LOUD) and anyway, I'm ALL FED, ALL THE TIME (if you know me, you surely know that--LONG LIVE THE FED), but I think it'll be interesting to follow Coach Jerry's Jelena Jankovic Journey since he's planning to send updates (maybe daily). Before I get to his report, though, I'm going to share what he wrote in the email: "I'm very excited about this opportunity, I hope everyone will be as excited as I am, and I want as many people as possible to share this with me. So many people have supported me over the years in so many things and in so many ways. I have always felt like I'm the luckiest person alive because of the people in my life. I will do my best to make you proud of me and to keep you updated the best I can."

THAT TOUCHED MY HEART and I've been thinking about it all day long. My instincts were right on: there's something VERY SPECIAL about Coach Jerry Albrikes. I just love it when AWESOME GOOD things happen to AWESOME GOOD people...and I'm truly glad this is happening for Coach Jerry.

Here's his report as his journey begins: "I'm flying from Charleston to Houston - already a one hour delay in Houston - to Palm Springs. I have my first hit with Jelena at 4PM. Funny story is when I called to book the court on Monday, they said I couldn't book it yet. I mentioned Jankovic was on her flight to CA and then the man said "unless you mention that name - then you can!" We're going to hit from 4-5PM. She just arrived in California from Malaysia. The tournament starts on Wednesday but she has a bye so she won't start until either Friday or Saturday."

I'll post more when he does. Thanks for reading! :)