A Silver Lining for Sport Amidst a Pandemic

Hello Friends and Happy Mothers’ Day,

I hope everyone continues to stay healthy and know we are all doing the right thing holding out even when it is tempting to open up society. I am pleased to see the opening of golf on one hand though it is unfortunate this action could not be coupled with the opening of more public recreation facilities and outdoor spaces. Non-golf players do not yet have as many outlets to practice their sports or engage in other leisure activities. I know that tennis is a sport that can be played safely when the time is right, and other physical activities enjoyed safely too.

I am excited to return to tennis! I watched a lecture this week about how tennis is empirically the best sport for your health, and of course subjectively we all know it is the best sport! The presentation by Dr. Brian Hainline, Chief Medical officer of the NCAA and USTA, explained that those who play racquet sports are proven to gain 9.7 years of life expectancy, their risk of premature death is 47% lower, and have a 56% less rate of heart attack and stroke. There may be no better sport than tennis to build agility, balance, coordination, strength, speed, and stamina.

As a coach, I was moved by these scientific studies. As players, you all can be inspired to further practice and promote our sport. All humans, especially children, need to have fun, participate, and compete. But who is shaping the narrative for our sport? Net Generation, the USTA, or PTR? Fortunately, tennis has these governing bodies and has a refined, developmentally-appropriate program with different-sized tennis courts that correspond to the varied bounce pressure of red, orange, and green tennis balls. As a player and a coach though, I have felt that historically there has not been enough collaboration between these governing bodies. It is their responsibility to structure junior tennis so that problems of overuse injuries from early specialization, sport dropout and America’s health crisis are addressed.

I’ve been glad to see more cooperation and a single message to take care of the sport and its players during this time. One silver lining of this pandemic is that these governing organizations are coming together and collaborating in a way that I hope will forever change the growth and issues of the sport. Continued support and standardization of teaching professionals will invite even more players into our sport as well as enhanced advocacy for the sport and its players by these coaches. Above all 24 other NCAA sports, tennis already has such a great development model, and amidst this pandemic, it’s encouraging to see such strong advocates coming together in a new manner.

At the end of this, cooped up children and adults will be eager for activity and social connection through sports. I hope the return-to-play tennis protocols, which have been designed collectively by the sport’s governing bodies, will lead to better collaboration between these organizations in the future. Such efforts will not only bring us back to play quickly and safely, but will continue to grow perhaps the most organized sport development model, that also happens to be inherently socially distant.

Survival Mechanisms:

Non-Screen Activity: Nature scavenger hunt

Epic Walk: Minuteman National Park, Concord, MA

Article of the Week: Covid-19 Manhattan Project: https://apple.news/AIJ9JN8iOSWi-7qqjh9mIFA

Video of the Week: Baby Foxes! https://www.facebook.com/groups/LSAlumniAssociation/permalink/10158248644201636/

Movie Recommendation: The Half of It (Netflix) – Teen romance, corny at times but well done, and a great soundtrack which adds something other films in this category usually lack

Documentary Recommendation: Becoming Michelle Obama (Netflix)

Show Recommendation: The Last Dance Michael Jordan (Netflix, ESPN)

Smoothie Recipe: Peach / Date Smoothie

1 cup peaches

4 deglet dates or 2 medjool dates

1 cup greens

1/2 yogurt or almond milk

1/2 banana (frozen helps taste)

½ cup coconut water

Dinner Recipe: Courtesy of June Biner!

*June likes to use Chilean Sea Bass and says some use Sable fish

Moroccan Sea Bass (the San Francisco Encore cookbook)

4 sea bass fillets, 6 oz each

4 tablespoons butter

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

2 teaspoons curry powder

½ cup dry white wine

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons chili sauce

1 teaspoon dry dillweed

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse the fillets and pat dry. Arrange on a piece of foil in a shallow roasting pan. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small frying pan. Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is limp. Stir in the curry powder and cook for a few minutes. Add the wine, soy sauce, chili sauce, and dillweed. Stir and cook until hot. Brush the fish generously with the sauce.

Bake the fish, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until it flakes. Brush with the baste several times while cooking.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes