Athletics offers the gift of learning and growing – News-Press

∙ This column is part of a series from coaches at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Tennis is an individual sport — players have no one to rely on out on the court but themselves. The game’s uniqueness is that one must quickly respond on their own to what is happening — unlike a team sport where there is usually a plan. In tennis, the player is alone with their thoughts.

How does it feel? What do you think? What do you want? Those were the words I heard over and over growing up as a young athlete. Those are the questions I try to ask my Florida Gulf Coast University student-athletes each day. Questions to elicit thoughts and more questions. Questions that challenge the players to think — not just hit tennis balls. Coaching is teaching. When we have the privilege to teach, we embrace the gift of learning and growing. Every year, I tell the athletes we are going to learn from each other, and we are going to embrace the opportunity to be grateful every day. Growth will be inevitable.  

I instill within my athletes that we constantly have the opportunity to be present in life and to learn from those put in our path. This is a gift to be discovered, and it can only come through living in the present and being grateful. Caring first for one another as people is vital for the success of a culture and an athletic program. When we care about others, we engage with them, and when we engage, we are present, and when we are present in life, we can hopefully be grateful.

Being present opens our eyes to the gift of growth. When you’re present, you cannot hide. You are exposed to how you are feeling, playing and experiencing the world. This is hard — especially if things are not going how one believes they should be — but in this struggle lies the gift, the opportunity to learn.

Every year, the team gets planners and goal books. Each team member is expected to write a personal goal and a team goal before practice each day. With the discipline of writing, you learn more about yourself. The more you steady the mind, the more the body will follow. Learning to self-reflect and ask questions is the best way to elicit change in ourselves. The more you can embrace learning without a negative or positive connotation, and just what it brings in and of itself, the more you will see change in yourself. Learning becomes the gift.

If you chase only success, it will crush you. But if you pursue learning, it is a never-ending opportunity to challenge yourself to grow. Athletes are taught to let the past go and focus on the present. In doing so, it is vital to know what you will be picking up instead of focusing on what has just happened.

I often tell athletes hard times come and challenges come; you cannot predict the future, and sport is the greatest arena in which to learn about life. How are you going to face and handle adversity when things don’t go your way? How do you handle bad calls in sports? How do you handle not being treated fairly by a teammate or person around you? How will you find gratitude and embrace change when situations look bleak?

Success in life comes through challenges, which, when faced correctly, develop character. Good character traits are essential in determining the successful outcome of one’s goals and relationships — on the court and in life.  

Courtney Vernon is FGCU’s women’s tennis head coach, a role she’s held since 2013.