JTCC CEO Ray Benton and Robin Montgomery
The Mid-Atlantic section winners for the 15th Annual Arthur Ashe Essay Contest were selected earlier this month. National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) participants were asked to answer this question: “If you could follow in Arthur Ashe’s footsteps and ‘give back’ to tennis, what would you do to give back to the game and how would it impact others?”.
Three JTCC players, Robin Montgomery, Andrew Leung and Nicholas Schultz, were tabbed as winners. Below is the essay written by Robin Montgomery in the 10 and Under category. Andrew’s entry will be posted this Wednesday and Nicholas’ composition will be published this Friday.
If I were following in Arthur Ashe’s footsteps I would give back by bringing tennis to countries that don’t let girls play sports. Examples of countries that won’t let girls play tennis are Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is important for girls to play tennis like boys because girls would learn important life skills. The life skills that I have learned from tennis are the importance of being disciplined, prepared, and dedicated and determined. These skills are important for young girls to learn because they will help them accomplish their goals and dreams.
In Afghanistan I would try to get the parents to change their minds about girls playing tennis. I would have to show them that tennis requires discipline, patience and practice. Practice means not giving up when you are learning something new or improving something you already know.
I would be an example of a person who practiced a lot and became a good tennis player. Succeeding in tennis helped build my self-esteem and confidence. Just like Arthur Ashe stated in one of his quotes, “An important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” By playing tennis the young girls will be prepared for many future events in their life.
Playing tennis requires the girls to be disciplined, to learn from their mistakes and to learn how to except [sic] defeat and to problem solve. An example would be when you lose a match, you have to learn from your mistakes and get back on the court and try again. The tennis demonstration will show the parents what qualities the girls can learn from tennis that could be important for other areas of their life. Then the parents will think it is a good idea for the girls to play tennis.
