All these tennis players come from rich/wealthy families, right?
rainbowbri...@yahoo.com
Iceberg
news:a965b802-c65d-41f5...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> None of them come from humble backgrounds?
ever heard of the Williams sisters? or Sharapova? or Andre Agassi?
drew
> None of them come from humble backgrounds?
If you haven't got money how do you afford court time and the best
coaches unless somebody subsidizes you?
And even if you are subsidized, you have to have a fairly supportive
family network to get you to your practices, etcetera and make sure
you eat correctly, get proper medical care, and stay away from gangs,
drugs and crime long enough to establish yourself on a tennis court.
And you've got to get all of this done while a kid is still pretty
young. When you haven't got money, tennis lessons are somewhere
behind food, clothing, housing and personal security as priorities
go. A ways behind.
Lax
supporters. Supporters are often their families.
pltrgyst
>All tennis players come from a background where they had rich/wealthy
>supporters. Supporters are often their families.
OK, maybe you've never heard of Bobby Riggs, Pancho Gonzalez, Arthur Ashe, or
Billie Jean King, or any of the many more modern examples.
Or maybe you're just another stupid gmail troll...
-- Larry
Dave Hazelwood
wrote:
>On Jul 17, 1:52 pm, rainbowbrite20062...@yahoo.com wrote:
>> None of them come from humble backgrounds?
>
>If you haven't got money how do you afford court time and the best
>coaches unless somebody subsidizes you?
>
turn tricks ?
Lax
> On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:44:41 -0700 (PDT), Lax <Lax.Cla...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >All tennis players come from a background where they had rich/wealthy
> >supporters. Supporters are often their families.
>
> OK, maybe you've never heard of Bobby Riggs, Pancho Gonzalez, Arthur Ashe, or
> Billie Jean King, or any of the many more modern examples.
>
Name a modern example of a top player that didn't have a deep pocketed
financial supporter during their development years?
Iceberg
news:0bd66391-1e4d-4c65...@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
Venus and Serena?
Lax
> "Lax" <Lax.Cla...@gmail.com> wrote in message
At some point they must have gotten some cash from someone (or their
parents took a HUGE risk in pushing their daughters on this path).
My cousin had to give up his dream of playing pro tennis at age 12
(when he was #3 in Ontario.. not a big deal I know) because he
coudln't afford all the raquets, strings, shoes, special camps,
coaching, etc. etc. etc. etc. that others were going to. Plus it's a
huge risk to spend time practicing tennis instead of trying to ace his
classes in school. AND he was from a middle class family.
I can't imagine a poor person going through all this unless they got a
sponsor, agency, etc. to jump in at an early age. The Williams were
also lucky because they had public courts nearby AND their parents
could coach them in tennis AND they could hit with each other to get
better.
number_six
>
> - Show quoted text -
Venus and Serena are pretty unusual in that they seldom played junior
tournaments. As you say, that had each other.
Connors came from a modest background; and what about Djokovic
nowadays?
Lax
parent's pancake/pizza business might have supported him.
Giovanna
Rafa was a spoiled rich boy who has always been pampered by his mommy
who has told him he is better that everyone, which he obviously bought
in to~~ I think his ego is so bloated that he thinks he can do
whatever he wants (phantom injuries during matches, medical timeouts,
20-30 ball bounces, lame excuses after a defeat, etc~~
TJT
What on earth are you talking about. Rafa is so modest that I hate him
for that...
A perfect athlete, through and through...
--
"If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors
just the same"
Giovanna
> What on earth are you talking about. Rafa is so modest that I hate him
> for that...
i'm just testing my english skills
pedr...@snip.net
> All tennis players come from a background where they had rich/wealthy
> supporters. Supporters are often their families.
That only applies to players from some countries. The former Eastern
bloc countries still have pretty good development programs, and so do
some Western European countries.
drew
I would be interested to know exactly how the Williams sisters were
funded. I know that the programs in the old Czechoslovakia and Soviet
Union sought out talent so money wasn't an issue but I wonder what is
left of those programs today.
Certainly in my country (Canada) you might as well forget it. Get a
US tennis scholarship and maybe you have a chance but otherwise yer
fucked.
Fan
> <rainbowbrite20062...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:a965b802-c65d-41f5...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > None of them come from humble backgrounds?
>
> ever heard of the Williams sisters? or Sharapova? or Andre Agassi?
Having a family that cares for the children is important and it does
not necessarily require a lot of money. Many tennis clubs give free
lessons to talented poor kids but a supporting family is the most
important factor. In the US, you can find free public courts. Some
high quality public courts charge nominal fees but they are free to
poor children and senior events.
m4816k
news:967473f2-8ad7-4047...@z16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
And some national tennis associations financially support lower ranked
players until they advance enough to make it on their own. I also heard they
sometimes support promissing kids (while still juniors) with coaching and
travel expenses paid etc. Of course, it varies from country to country.
m4816k
news:0bd66391-1e4d-4c65...@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
I remember reading that it took Ivanisevic family quite some time to pay
back all the bank loans and get out of debt. Of course, it paid out for
them, but it's a big risk.
m4816k
You're right about the sisters, but I also think it's not exactly impossible
to find some sponsor, at least to cover part of expenses, if you're really
good. It's easier I think if you're in a city and can make some connections,
but if you're in the middle of nowhere it's a diferent story.
m4816k
news:ea71f9a7-9016-4215...@h17g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> On Jul 17, 9:51 pm, pedrod...@snip.net wrote:
>> On Jul 17, 4:44 pm, Lax <Lax.Cla...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > All tennis players come from a background where they had rich/wealthy
>> > supporters. Supporters are often their families.
>>
>> That only applies to players from some countries. The former Eastern
>> bloc countries still have pretty good development programs, and so do
>> some Western European countries.
>
> I would be interested to know exactly how the Williams sisters were
> funded. I know that the programs in the old Czechoslovakia and Soviet
> Union sought out talent so money wasn't an issue but I wonder what is
> left of those programs today.
They disappeared along with communism for what I know.
Iceberg
news:g5pfom$pm2$1...@ss408.t-com.hr...
Yes it seriously varies in the UK, but the LTA and local councils haven't
helped much. When I was growing up there was no support from either of them
at all, the moment us kids stepped onto a public court the park keeper would
ask us for money we simply didn't have so we had to leave and the courts
were never used, it's still like this a lot today and very sad. It was never
any wonder to me why Henman was the only decent player of my generation.
Things are starting to change though with the Tennis For Free campaign and
stuff like that though and I've personally seen tennis clubs help out poor
families by giving their kids free lessons and stuff the past few years,
which is good news.
Iceberg
> Not sure who funded his years at the Pilic academy in Germany. His
> parent's pancake/pizza business might have supported him.
his parent's were Olympic level ski-ers so it's probably more a case that
they knew exactly what to spend their money on.
Iceberg
news:b641ba4a-f1e6-48ae...@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
yes, they stayed away from junior tournaments and that was frowned on by the
tennis authorities, they sure showed them. It's hardly an excuse that they
had each other, oh so they were just 'lucky' then. Richard Williams decided
before they were born that they would be great tennis players, he did take
that huge risk and he did this as a poor person, Lax, just face facts.
Also I believe Sharpova's parents had to live in different countries to
afford to send her to Florida, again her dad took that huge risk on modest
means.
tenni...@yahoo.com
> "number_six" <cyberi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
well but at least the Williamses did not have to pay for any of the
coaching and used free public courts. Coaching and court time are
where the bulk of the expenses are.
Are there any examples of poor kids excelling in tennis who do not
have free access to tennis coaching. I guess not.
So the basic point remains without free/within family coaching, it's
very hard for poor/middle income kids to excel at tennis, which is not
the case with soccer, basketball, baseball, etc...
m4816k
news:18ee5426-c5cd-4504...@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
Correct, but those are all team sports and tennis is an individual one, so
it's not really a good comparison.
bue
~~
tenni...@yahoo.com
wrote:
> <tennis41...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
That does not the fact that without good supporting finances it's not
easy to excel in tennis i.e. be an ATP level player.
No other sport perhaps the exception of golf requires so much money to
be put into the development effort.
Javier González Nicolini
One would like if she'd test her posting restraint skills.
Joe Ramirez
Skiing?
Sailing?
And I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss all team sports as necessarily
less expensive. Hockey, for example, can cost a fortune for equipment,
coaching (both hockey training *and* skating lessons), ice time, and
travel. Many schools either don't have teams or require the families
to bear these expenses even if they do have teams. Hockey players
often start at age 3 or 4, so parents are often paying for a loong
time.
Joe Ramirez
drew
> So the basic point remains without free/within family coaching, it's
> very hard for poor/middle income kids to excel at tennis, which is not
> the case with soccer, basketball, baseball, etc...
Not just 'coaching' but top level coaching. Makes a hell of a lot of
difference. And you
have to get to top level competition as well. Maybe with the women it
can be done on the
cheap because women's tennis is kind of weak to begin with but I don't
think
a top male singles player can make it without the best coaching.
john
"Giovanna" <giova...@bol.com.br> wrote in message
news:836231c9-4228-4ac7...@z72g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
I knew Federer's family is a upper middle class family in Switzerland, his
father
and mother both worked in Ciba chemical. Roger's father was a production
manager and his mother was a secretary.
tenni...@yahoo.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
doesn't make tennis any less expensive, does it?
Tennis is still rich people's sport if you want to make it to the top.
Simply having telent doesn't cut it.
Joe Ramirez
No, but the point I clearly was addressing was your statement that "no
other sport perhaps the exception of golf requires so much money."
Joe Ramirez