Our FIRST EVER Fall Southern Closed

Everyone knows we love Kentucky in December (and we're totally looking forward to our FIFTH STRAIGHT Winter Southern Closed which will be here before we know it). But how would we feel about Kentucky in November? hmm... We just got home last night from our FIRST EVER Fall Southern Closed --- and we really weren't sure what to expect --- but we'll try anything once so we hit the road with fingers crossed. How did it go? Well, you gotta read on...for this exciting tale of our tournament travels! :)

We arrived at the host site (Louisville Indoor Racquet Club) just in time for registration. We considered several locations inside the club before we chose the best spot to set up our home-away-from-home for the next 5 days. So far, so good. But then we identified a few negatives that would make the tournament even more challenging than most...

The first was the alternate sites. With the exception of our favorite club in Kentucky-The Tennis Club at Springhurst-the other sites were not close together AT ALL. No problem-we'll just focus on LIRC and Springhurst and apologize to those at the other sites. Great plan - EXCEPT that 50% of the players who signed up for Day 1 of the tournament were playing at alternate sites. :( We just hate to say "NO" to good customers who are also good friends so we said "YES" - where there's a will, there's a way.

Next, we discovered that the curtains at LIRC were super-tall, meaning I couldn't reach the top of them...which meant that I couldn't lend a hand to help Danny if/when I had a free moment. No worries-we hired a teenager to help Wednesday morning and (tag-team) a local tennis pro to help Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon. Not only could these helpers reach the top of the curtains, they also had cars they could jump into and they live in the area so they had no problem cruising over to the alternate sites. Problem solved!

The final issue was the HUGE fee we had to pay to LIRC for the opportunity to provide video services to our customers. We usually avoid those tournaments that charge a fee (we work to keep our prices low, low so every player can use video to their advantage) and since we're responsible for our expenses (you can imagine that driving all other the southeast and spending so many nights away from home really adds up), well, the margins are just really small---especially since we never really know whether we'll even make 50 cents!

As it turns out, our numbers were

 OFF THE CHARTS!!!

When the folks at LIRC approached us on the last day to find out whether our trip had been worthwhile, I told them we'd done very well. They said that was good for them and good for us...a WIN/WIN.

I said it really wasn't about us...it was about the players.

And it was VERY GOOD for them!!!

One of the many positive things I'll remember from this trip was when I asked 37 players a very serious question: "On a scale of 1-10, how happy is your life?" Most reacted with stunned silence, then comments like "Do you mean now that my match is finished?" or "I never thought about that before!" and I had to clarify that I meant IN GENERAL and I would only accept ONE WHOLE NUMBER (no decimals, no approximate # or #). I think the results were sooo interesting (considering these were junior tennis players, most of whom travel around the south at great expense to play a game): TEN: 9, NINE: 7, EIGHT: 16, SEVEN: 3, SIX: 1, FIVE: 1. I kinda expected the numbers would be higher...and I especially loved the ones who quickly answered "TEN-OF COURSE!" My childhood was very different so I can't really say what my answer would have been...?

How wonderful to receive loads of warm hugs and happy smiles! How about this from a sweet 10-yr-old little sis of a junior player and customer from Cary, NC: "HI, MISS JULIE!!! I'm SOOO glad to see you, I've missed you SOOO much, and can I help decorate your signs like always?"

Another positive: I was soooo touched to receive two gifts from two very thoughtful customers. COFFEEEEE from my favorite mom of two sweet girls from Mississippi and home-made cookies from a very special mom of a great girl and recent recruit from Louisville!!!

Finally, I don't think I'll ever forget spending several hours on a Saturday night with a brand new friend: 6-yr-old Ruthie (the sibling of a player in our LAST match of the day). I wish I'd taken a picture of her but I was too busy guessing the name of her sisters, her brothers, her parents, her pets - one dog, two cats, one turtle, one horse - and then guessing her favorite color, and her birthday. SMILE!!!

Not sure if we'll make the trip up next year (NEXT Thanksgiving is a long, looooong time away) but GREAT THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS TRIP UNFORGETTABLE - and a special shoutout to our pal Coach Chris Mather for being such a great friend to HIGH-TECH TENNIS in general (and to Danny & me...XOXO).
Thanks for the great support and we'll SEE YA SOON!