Tag Archives: states

Tennis, Family and Caregiving

 

This post will be boring to anyone but my mother but I feel like writing it so I don’t forget.

I turned 47 on Thursday. Hannah qualified for states for the 2nd year so I got to drive her to Hershey, PA for the tournament on that day. We were all together for the weekend, which was the best birthday gift ever.

Hannah’s a natural goal-setter and despite not training during the off-season (the kid got a little burned out on junior tournaments and clinics) she’s had a great high school tennis career. Let me brag here because she won’t do it herself. She is a 3x section champion and a 4x district qualifier. She qualified for states twice and was the district runner-up this year. I think her regular season record is 33-3 for her career.

Her goal this season was to win one more match at each tournament than the previous season. She did that in the district tournament by playing in the final and she exceeded that goal at the state tournament by finishing 4th!

Hannah Phillips Tennis States

 

My cousin was generous enough to stay with my aunt for two nights so my mom could come, too. Another gift. It meant a lot to Hannah that she was there.

I have incredible support from my closest family. I could never have offered to take care of my aunt in my home without it. It takes some extra planning and preparation to leave her for a couple of days-even in the best hands-but it all worked out.

Congratulations to Hannah. We’re all so proud of you!

 

Congratulations to Luke!

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Luke Phillips WPIAL

Luke (right) with his coach after winning his match

I’ve written about Luke’s tennis before. After 2 months off for an undiagnosed stress fracture that had been dogging him for more than 18 months, Luke was released just in time for his high school tennis season.

Unlike some other states, Pennsylvania has an equal access law which allows homeschooled students to participate in interscholastic athletics and other extracurricular activities.

Luke will be representing the school district when he competes in the PIAA State Championship tennis tournament for boys at the end of May.

He’s disappointed that he didn’t win the district title but qualified for the state tournament by beating a senior (also homeschooled) to place 3rd.

In case you’re interested, here are 2 articles written about him. One in the Post Gazette and another in the Tribune Review. (He has a cute quote at the end of the Post Gazette article). So far, he’s pretty good at interviews. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since he’s been listening to radio broadcasts of the Pirates and Panther basketball almost as long as he’s been playing tennis.

Thanks for indulging my shameless brag and good luck, Luke!