NewsAthleticsUpper SchoolStudent LifeService
Sophomore wins third in state at tennis tournament
Jul 19, 2004 8:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Michael Schecter won his first tennis tournament at the age of 9 and hasn’t looked back, most recently placing third in state in Boys' 16s singles at the Georgia State Junior Clay Court Open Championship.
Schecter, a sophomore from Rome, inherited his love for the sport from his mother, Gina, who played as a child and during her college years at Georgia Tech. “When I was around 5 years old, my mom asked me if I would like to play tennis, since we were around the courts all the time,” he said. “I agreed, because I had fun playing sports.”
Schecter began attending Craig Jones Pee Wee tennis camps at Coosa Country Club in Rome, and, eventually, began taking lessons with Jones. “The more I played/practiced, the better I got, and this all made tennis even more fun for me,” said Schecter. “When I started playing tournaments around the age of 8, I began winning trophies, and for a little kid, a trophy is a very big deal.”
He later enrolled in Craig Jones Tennis Academy at Horseleg Plantation Country Club at its inception in 2001. “At the Craig Jones Tennis Academy, you get a lot of personal attention from one of the country’s top junior tennis coaches,” said Schecter. “Craig really cares about his students. [He] makes sure my form is correct, maximizing my potential. He also very strongly emphasizes the mental part of the game with patterns of play and strategies.”
As for training, Schecter said he plays tennis daily in the summer, winter and spring. “But I am only able to play a couple of times a week in the fall because of varsity cross-country,” he said. “I have two to three lessons each week, and during the three main seasons, I do the tennis drills at least three times a week. I also include my own workouts with the ball machine and practicing serves as well as match play.”
All of his hard work pays off at tournament time.
Last summer, Schecter competed in his first international tournament in the Dominican Republic, an experience he called exciting. Little did he know, his Darlington Spanish classes would really come in handy.
“My most memorable match was when I defeated the No. 2 seed in the tournament, who was also the No. 1 player in the Dominican Republic,” he said. “Throughout the entire match, there were many Dominican kids and adults watching and cheering for my opponent. Some of them were even clinging to the fences, shouting in Spanish. I was one of two Americans in the tournament, and loved being the underdog fighting my way to the finals.”
Again recently, Schecter faced some stiff competition at the Georgia State Junior Clay Court Open Championship, held July 5 through 10 in Columbus. “Every singles match that I played was very tough, and I had to play very well to get as far as I did,” he said. “I beat the No. 1 seed in my first round, and beat the No. 5 seed in my third round.”
Schecter called his win a bittersweet victory, though. “I was extremely excited after I won the third/fourth place playoff in the Boys 16s, though I was a little disappointed, because last year, I won this tournament in the Boys 14s,” he explained. But Schecter is optimistic. “I have another full year in the Boys 16s to capture that title again,” he said.
No stranger to winning, Schecter has collected a large number of trophies over the years, including the Sportsmanship Award at the National Zonals Team Competition in the summer of 2003, the Sportsmanship Award from the USTA Competitive Training Center in 2002 and the Best Effort Award for Varsity Tennis in 2003-2004. He was also named Most Valuable Player during all three years of Middle School tennis.
“It takes a ton of dedication, determination, discipline, devotion, confidence, mental toughness and a great love of the game to be a successful tennis player,” he said.
Schecter said he hopes to add more doubles matches to his schedule over the next few years, because he knows it is important in college play. “Most tournaments only have a singles draw, and in high school tennis, I played singles; therefore, when I practice, I naturally practice singles more than I do doubles,” he said. “I played both singles and doubles at the Georgia State Junior Clay Court Championship, but was eliminated in the first round of doubles.”
Schecter has attended Darlington School since the first grade. “My parents knew it was a strong academic school, and they said that having a school like Darlington was crucial in their decision to move to Rome,” he said. Upon graduating from Darlington, he plans to attend college. “My goal is to get a tennis scholarship, but I also want to keep my academics up so that I can qualify for an academic scholarship.”
Schecter, a sophomore from Rome, inherited his love for the sport from his mother, Gina, who played as a child and during her college years at Georgia Tech. “When I was around 5 years old, my mom asked me if I would like to play tennis, since we were around the courts all the time,” he said. “I agreed, because I had fun playing sports.”
Schecter began attending Craig Jones Pee Wee tennis camps at Coosa Country Club in Rome, and, eventually, began taking lessons with Jones. “The more I played/practiced, the better I got, and this all made tennis even more fun for me,” said Schecter. “When I started playing tournaments around the age of 8, I began winning trophies, and for a little kid, a trophy is a very big deal.”
He later enrolled in Craig Jones Tennis Academy at Horseleg Plantation Country Club at its inception in 2001. “At the Craig Jones Tennis Academy, you get a lot of personal attention from one of the country’s top junior tennis coaches,” said Schecter. “Craig really cares about his students. [He] makes sure my form is correct, maximizing my potential. He also very strongly emphasizes the mental part of the game with patterns of play and strategies.”
As for training, Schecter said he plays tennis daily in the summer, winter and spring. “But I am only able to play a couple of times a week in the fall because of varsity cross-country,” he said. “I have two to three lessons each week, and during the three main seasons, I do the tennis drills at least three times a week. I also include my own workouts with the ball machine and practicing serves as well as match play.”
All of his hard work pays off at tournament time.
Last summer, Schecter competed in his first international tournament in the Dominican Republic, an experience he called exciting. Little did he know, his Darlington Spanish classes would really come in handy.
“My most memorable match was when I defeated the No. 2 seed in the tournament, who was also the No. 1 player in the Dominican Republic,” he said. “Throughout the entire match, there were many Dominican kids and adults watching and cheering for my opponent. Some of them were even clinging to the fences, shouting in Spanish. I was one of two Americans in the tournament, and loved being the underdog fighting my way to the finals.”
Again recently, Schecter faced some stiff competition at the Georgia State Junior Clay Court Open Championship, held July 5 through 10 in Columbus. “Every singles match that I played was very tough, and I had to play very well to get as far as I did,” he said. “I beat the No. 1 seed in my first round, and beat the No. 5 seed in my third round.”
Schecter called his win a bittersweet victory, though. “I was extremely excited after I won the third/fourth place playoff in the Boys 16s, though I was a little disappointed, because last year, I won this tournament in the Boys 14s,” he explained. But Schecter is optimistic. “I have another full year in the Boys 16s to capture that title again,” he said.
No stranger to winning, Schecter has collected a large number of trophies over the years, including the Sportsmanship Award at the National Zonals Team Competition in the summer of 2003, the Sportsmanship Award from the USTA Competitive Training Center in 2002 and the Best Effort Award for Varsity Tennis in 2003-2004. He was also named Most Valuable Player during all three years of Middle School tennis.
“It takes a ton of dedication, determination, discipline, devotion, confidence, mental toughness and a great love of the game to be a successful tennis player,” he said.
Schecter said he hopes to add more doubles matches to his schedule over the next few years, because he knows it is important in college play. “Most tournaments only have a singles draw, and in high school tennis, I played singles; therefore, when I practice, I naturally practice singles more than I do doubles,” he said. “I played both singles and doubles at the Georgia State Junior Clay Court Championship, but was eliminated in the first round of doubles.”
Schecter has attended Darlington School since the first grade. “My parents knew it was a strong academic school, and they said that having a school like Darlington was crucial in their decision to move to Rome,” he said. Upon graduating from Darlington, he plans to attend college. “My goal is to get a tennis scholarship, but I also want to keep my academics up so that I can qualify for an academic scholarship.”
