Teachers vs. Students: Whose Tennis Was Best?

Thwack! A tennis ball hurls through the air, and just as it’s about to meet the ground, it is greeted by another powerful hit. The ball travels back and forth across the net. One one side, a student from the AISG APAC tennis team. On the other, a teacher or parent, willing enough to be a part of a team made up of other adults.

On Saturday, October 10th, a tennis tournament involving our APAC tennis team and our student players occurred. Mr. Webster, coach of the school’s team, along with Mrs. Elliott, the person who gathered the adult’s team, were both very enthusiastic about the competition.

Before the tournament happened, I asked Mrs. Elliott, “In general, what are you expecting of this event?”. She replied, “A sunny day full of smiles, sweat, good sportsmanship, healthy competition, and beautiful tennis displayed on the courts of the Tennis Centre!”

Since this was between students and adults, I asked her what she hoped each group would get out of this experience.

“What do you hope the students will gain from this?”

“I hope the student players will see this as another opportunity to practice their skills before the APAC weekend. I hope they view the adults as worthy opponents with plenty of experience. (I also hope they will be a little bit kind on our older joints, muscles and lungs!)”

“What do you hope the adults playing the students will get out of this?”

“This is my fourth year of persuading adults in our community to play against the Students’ Team. It is not always easy to get a team together due to the parents’ and teachers’ many engagements (and a few injuries as well). But to see the joy and enthusiasm of those exhausted participants after a day of healthy exercise and fun, makes it all worthwhile. It is also a great opportunity for adults to meet other adults with the same passion for tennis. I hope the word gets out that this is a delightful way to help a group of students and to get fit at the same time. Teachers: start practicing for next year’s event!”

Thankfully, when Saturday arrived, it was a beautiful day. Just as Mrs. Elliott had hoped, there was lots of sweat, sunshine, and fun-filed competition. In the end, the adults came out on top, just barely beating the students.

When asked, “How was the tournament?”, Mrs. Elliott said, “We had beautiful day for tennis, there was a great turn-out of both players and spectators. The positive energy and great sportsmanship of all the players was admirable. A very good time was had by all. I would like to thank Mr. Webster and Mr. Elliott for making this a very successful tournament. It is the only sport at AISG that provides an opportunity for parents and teachers to play against the students.”

Additionally, Tiffany Chan, a player on the AISG girl’s tennis team, responded to the question, “What did you think of the tournament as a whole?”, with, “I think that it was a good idea, and it was fun. We got to interact with teachers in a different way, rather than in a classroom.”

Since this is an annual event, and has been for the past four years, I asked for some suggestions from Tiffany as well.

“If you could change one things about the tournament for next year, what would it be?”

“I would try to make it so that we got the chance to watch others play and cheer them on, because we never really got time for that.”

All in all, the day was a massive success, and hopefully, next year, there will be even more adults for the students to gain tennis wisdom from!