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Where are all the Champions?

Published Oct. 15th, 2018

About a 10 minute read

I can remember the early days of Bethanie’s training. When that alarm would ring… jeez, I hated that alarm noise! On top of that, we were in the middle of winter and it was still dark outside. I don’t know about you but I would much rather gradually wake up as the sun was rising and the birds were chirping, not when all the birds were still sleeping!

I remember wanting soooo badly to turn over in my warm bed and snooze for another hour. Whenever I would start to doze back off, there was this voice inside of my head that kept reminding me that I shouldn’t do that because I had some important things to do. “Okay, get going,” that inner voice kept reminding me, despite my body screaming otherwise.

I got up quietly, got dressed quickly, and walked down the long hallway to where my two girls were peacefully sleeping. We had a ranch style home at the time and the contractor must have had kids of his own. The master bedroom was so perfectly placed on the opposite side of the house from all of our noisy children’s bedrooms. At this time of the morning though, it was usually pretty quiet.

I would quietly walk into my girls’ bedroom, gently nudge my oldest daughter and tell her it was time to get up and to get dressed. Bethanie knew she had to be really quiet because her sister Alison was an extremely light sleeper.

Now, Bethanie wasn’t a teenager yet, so she had no problem getting out of bed and getting dressed quickly. She usually whipped up a breakfast of Cheerios or Pops with a banana and juice. At least that’s sort of a healthy breakfast, right? Lol. In the meantime, I would start the car, scrape the windows, and shovel if it had snowed overnight. The car would almost be warm as we drove to the indoor courts in town, just as the day’s first light was appearing.

There weren’t that many indoor courts in town. In fact, there was only one club in town and it had six courts. As a result, it was really difficult to get court time during the day. In addition to that, my wife and I worked and the kids had school. So, I was really thankful that the club director was kind enough to let me come early in the morning before the club even opened. Of course, I still had to pay for the court time, as well as club fees.

Complete Performance by Mattek (CP) is a company founded by Tim and his two sons that is dedicated to the training and development of junior athletes. CP is leading the tennis industry in helping young players overcome mental barriers, execute at a high level consistently, and develop as a player as well as a person. To find out more click here.

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Bethanie and I would get to the club, get out of the car, and into the cold blustery air. As we walked into the club we’d be all bundled up in our winter clothes… jackets, boots, scarfs, hats, and gloves. I’d get the lights on, make sure the heaters were working, and we would carry our gear down to the last court, set up, and start practicing. I can remember some days, Bethanie even had to keep her hat and gloves on because it was so cold. I would always notice how quiet and empty it was that early in the morning. On days that Bethanie would hit an extra special shot I would bring her to the net, give her a high five, and then I would say, Bethanie…

Bethanie and I would get to the club, get out of the car and into the cold blustery air. As we walked into the club we’d be all bundled up in our winter clothes… jackets, boots, scarfs, hats, and gloves. I’d get the lights on, make sure the heaters were working, we would carry our gear down to the last court, set up and start practicing. I can remember some days, Bethanie even had to keep her hat and gloves on because it was so cold. I would always notice how quiet and empty it was that early in the morning. On days that Bethanie would hit an extra special shot I would bring her to the net, give her a high five, and then I would say, Bethanie…

“Where are all the champions?”

The first time that I asked her this she looked at me (slightly confused) and we both looked down the long row of courts, and she said “Dad, there’re nobody else here!” I looked my daughter in the eyes and said “Yes, that’s right, nobody else is here. But you are. You’re here Bethanie, and that’s what makes you a champion! Because you’re here, right now.”

So what would motivate some kids to want to do things they don’t feel like doing or don’t like to do, while other kids don’t want to do those things?

Kids will do things even when they don’t feel like it…if they believe it will get them what THEY want!

So, what did Bethanie want? She wanted to win trophies. She would do whatever it took if she felt it added to her growing trophy collection. It wouldn’t even have to be a tennis trophy, any trophy would do! She loved to collect trophies and she has quite the collection.

So, she would train hard, follow her plan, go to a tournament, and try to win a trophy! Now, she didn’t win a trophy every time, but when she did, she would be so happy that she was able to put that trophy up on the shelf.

It’s so funny, fast forward twenty-five years later and nothing has changed. Not even after she won her eighth Slam Title at the US OPEN Mixed Title in NYC, with Jamie Murray. After her media time, she celebrated her win and poured champagne in the big silver trophy and we’d all have a drink. How cool is that? But did you know that...

Professional athletes aren’t the only ones that get to be champions.

Now, fast forward twenty-five years from Bethanie’s childhood and there’s a nine year old girl. This girl is from Eastern Europe, where she lives with her parents and younger brother on the ninth floor of an old apartment building. Everything there is in walking distance, the school, the hospital, her parent’s work, the grocery market, and the tennis courts…it’s crazy convenient.

This nine year old girl is on one of CP’s elite development programs and for almost two years, she has faithfully followed her training schedule. She does the mental training, Echo Drills (shadowing exercises), fitness, and drills on court.

Both of her parents work during the day, so after school, she walks home alone, changes her clothes, sets up her camera, follows her schedule, and takes short videos of all of her exercises. When she’s all done, she sends the short videos to CP via Messenger, so we can make comments, and affirm what she is doing well. (You’ve got to love technology!) She does this all by herself, when no one is around or cheering her on. Doing all of this is what, I believe, makes her a champion. You might be saying, “She’s so young. Why does she do this?”

Well, I think…that she thinks…that if she does these things, she’ll get what she WANTS.

What does she want? She told me once that she wants to be famous! Nowadays, you can become famous many different ways, and some are not good! So, knowing how much she loves tennis and recognizing her potential, I told her that she could be famous, if she got really good at tennis!

comments, and affirm what she is doing well (You’ve got to love technology!). She does this all by herself, when no one is around or cheering her on. Doing all of this is what I believe makes her a champion. You might be saying, “she’s so young, why does she do this?”

Well, I think that she thinks that if she does these things, she’ll get what she WANTS.

What does she want? She told me once that she wants to be famous! Nowadays, you can become famous many different ways and some are not good! So, knowing how much she loves tennis and recognizing her potential, I told her that she could be famous, if she got really good at tennis!

When your kids start doing things even when they don’t feel like it or want to, when they’re doing their best even when no one is watching, your kids are becoming champions.

There’s also a 16 year old girl who faithfully follows her training schedule. She personally trains with us at our South Florida HQ, two days a week and I believe that her tenacity is making her a champion as well.

Every week, she goes online to our scheduling page and sets up her weekly training times. On the first day of training, she orders an Uber. The Uber driver takes her one hour north to our training facility and she trains hard. This girl will then take an Uber to a family friend’s house and spend the night.

The next morning, an Uber driver will bring her back and we will do more training. She gives it everything she’s got for three Performance Training Sessions and in between each session, she works hard and completes her homework. At the end of her sessions she plays a match and after that match, she’ll Uber back home one hour south.

She does this all by herself. And because she does this, because she works hard even when no one else is around, she’s a champion. Again, you might be asking, “why does she do this?”

The answer is simple. She knows that if she does these things, she’ll be better equipped to get what she WANTS. So, what does she want? She told me, herself, she wants to be accepted into an Ivy League School (preferably Columbia or Princeton) and she thinks she has a great chance of being accepted if she can play on their tennis team.

Bethanie as well as these other two girls have all something in common. They all understand that…

To go where few have gone, you have to train like few have trained!

Maybe you think your kids have to win the tournaments or ace the tests to be a champion, but I would disagree! I don’t think that winning tournaments or acing tests is the key to becoming a champion.

I think that when your kids stick to a task, when they’re learning to finish the things they start, when they’re willing to do the things that others may not be willing to do (even when they don’t feel like it) so they can EARN the things THEY want, when they do the very best they can (regardless if anyone is watching them or cheering then on), when they are learning and applying life lessons, when they do these things, they are becoming Champions.

So, if you are raising your children to do these things, then cheers my friends… you’re raising a champion!

If not, find out what they really want and let’s motivate them to become the champion we already know that they can be!

Until next time...Tim

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