Fit Enough to WIN!

Fit Enough to Win!

We've known Taylor Townsend and her entire family since about 2006 - or it may have been earlier than that. Sure, we knew she was a pretty awesome tennis player but the reason we love her? She's a GREAT GIRL with a BEAUTIFUL SPIRIT!!! I hope this experience doesn't damage that spirit - but it's hard to say...

I don't claim to be an expert on developing tennis players or much of anything else, for that matter...but I immediately knew something was wrong when I heard that Taylor had been "benched" this summer after USTA officials decided she wasn't fit enough to compete??? BENCHED??? The #1 junior girl in the WORLD was being benched? Something had to be horribly wrong... and it was. :( As reported in the Wall Street Journal on 9/6/12:

"Unbeknownst to everyone outside her inner circle, the USTA wasn't happy to see Townsend in New York. Her coaches declined to pay her travel expenses to attend the Open and told her this summer that they wouldn't finance any tournament appearances until she makes sufficient progress in one area: slimming down and getting into better shape. "Our concern is her long-term health, number one, and her long-term development as a player," said Patrick McEnroe, the general manager of the USTA's player development program. "We have one goal in mind: For her to be playing in [Arthur Ashe Stadium] in the main draw and competing for major titles when it's time.
That's how we make every decision, based on that."

So after the USTA decided she wasn't fit enough to compete and they declined to pay travel expenses, her mom (Shelia) paid for TT to go to New York...AND GUESS WHAT??? She won her 3rd junior Grand Slam doubles title of the year!!!

But before she won on Saturday, Patrick McEnroe clarified his position in the Wall Street Journal on 9/7/12:

“It was a miscommunication,” said Patrick McEnroe, the general manager of the USTA’s player development program. “I apologize that they feel that way, it’s not right.” McEnroe said Townsend’s weight was not the cause of the USTA’s decision. “This has nothing to do with weight,” he said. “We never talked about that. We talked about her being in shape, working on her fitness.
It’s not about how you look, it’s about how fit you are.”

Umm......right. A simple miscommunication? I DOUBT IT.

Remember - we are talking about a CHILD here. A  CHILD who (forgive me, Taylor) has NEVER been small but a  CHILD who presumably tries her best. But o.k., none of us were there so we can't truly know the entire story and maybe, just maybe, she doesn't try her hardest to follow whatever guidelines are given to her...but SURELY there was a more appropriate way to handle this very, very sensitive issue.

Instead, they instructed this  CHILD to withdraw from the USTA Girls' National Championships in San Diego in August (if she'd won, she'd have received an automatic wild card into the U.S. Open's main draw and with it a rare chance to be seen by agents and sponsors - she currently has no agent)... they prevented this  CHILD from competing in our country's Grand Slam, and they generally caused a  CHILD to feel horribly about herself.

And if that "miscommunication" excuse doesn't do it for you, this quickly surfaced on Tennis.com, 9/8/12:

Townsend required a doctor's approval to play due to "low iron." Townsend was recently diagnosed with low iron, and the USTA did not feel it was safe for her to play until her doctors gave her the go-ahead. After she returned to Florida, Townsend was diagnosed with low iron during a routine checkup. Shelia Townsend said her daughter is taking iron pills and that the problem is "totally manageable."

Can you begin to imagine how she must feel??? Has the USTA ever heard of eating disorders??? Just think - the topic of this CHILD's body and weight is being discussed in very hurtful words in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, the entire Twitter-verse, and more blogs than I can count??? I am sooo very offended by this treatment - and I'm not the only one who feels this way. Consider the words of former #1 players and Grand Slam champions from The Daily Fix - WSJ Blog - 9/7/12:

"You cannot punish someone for their body type,” Davenport said. "Bringing out their best isn’t making them feel bad about themselves and having a horrible self-image. You get it out of them by getting them happy, by getting them excited to play, not by tearing them down." .. "I was not svelte at 15, and I was not fit at 15. If they had told me I could not play, I mean, that could have ruined my career." .. "[Taylor] is a baby to me. I couldn’t imagine, if someone did that to one of my kids, that would be the end of it.
It’s horrible to put that kind of pressure on someone.
I can’t imagine at 16 what my parents would have done."

“I’m livid about it. Livid,” Navratilova said. She added: “It speaks of horrible ignorance.”

Over the weekend, I reached out to Taylor and mom Shelia to let them know we're thinking about them, to remind them that we support them ALL THE WAY, and to be sure they're managing in this unmanageable situation. Taylor assures me she's "Doing good! It's tough but I'm handling it well and just trying to keep working hard?" and Shelia says "Taylor has handled herself with grace and dignity and to top it off, walked away with a championship..."

Taylor's style of play and extreme talent has been compared with that of Serena Williams. And there may well be issues of race and weight at play here...I just don't know. But at a minimum, I think we can ALL agree that - no matter what HE SAYS or what SHE SAYS - this situation was handled very, very, VERY poorly. Professional adults who are trusted to CARE about and for children are supposed to know better...and I say SHAME ON THE USTA. This is the very last thing that Taylor needed - and the same goes for TENNIS in general!!!

My heart hurts for my friend's sweet spirit and how potentially damaging this is... It is so much bigger than whether she does or does not become the next American Tennis Champion!!! She is a CHILD ... who just happens to have amazing tennis talent ... but still a CHILD who's doing her best to grow up in the world the same as the rest of us.

This CHILD is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She's the #1 Junior Girl in the World and she certainly showed us all that she's FIT ENOUGH TO WIN!!!