Easterbowl opens eyes for Kapa‘a student

“It was my first national tournament, and I had no clue what to expect from these girls,” said Kapa‘a Middle School student Lyndsey Tom after returning from Palm Springs, California.

Tom, who has been playing in various tournaments around the state of Hawai‘i, recently was given an opportunity to play in the Easterbowl Spring National Tournament, and according to her, “The experience I gained was so unique and great, I’m happy that I had a chance to participate in it.”

The Easterbowl is the biggest tennis tournament for juniors in the United States, Tom said, and for some of the players, it’s an important tournament because most of the winners turn pro in the following few years.

“For me, that wasn’t the case,” Tom said. “It was my first national tournament.”

Tom played four matches and finished with just one victory, but along the way, there were many lessons to be learned, and the Kapa‘a Middle School student came back with not only a victory, but numerous lessons from the book of Life.

Pitted against the 14th seed from Chicago, Tom said, “By looking at the score alone, I got pretty beat up, but if you watched my match, it was close, and almost every game went to deuce, 40-40, closest point of each game if reached.”

Despite the two hour match, Tom admits that she played well, and going into her second match, she was teamed with a girl from Georgia, the pair handily winning that matchup.

Tom’s opponent in her third match gave her a handful as she had to deal with the competition as well as herself on the court.

“Every time she missed a shot, she would yell random phrases,” Tom recollects. “I hate tennis!” is all she kept yelling. I ended up either ignoring her, or laughing, because I thought it was somewhat amusing. Surprisingly, it worked, and we split sets.”

Unfortunately, Tom lost the last set, but wasn’t that upset with the loss. “I was just freaked out because I had never played someone like that,” Tom said.

Her final loss came in a doubles match that she admits, “We lost pretty badly. They were really short, but they could play. By the way they looked, dressed, and hit, they could have passed for boys. They were the best players I’ve ever played, and even though I did horrible, I’m glad I got to play them.”

By the third match, Tom said she realized that most of the girls in her age group aren’t that much beter than she was. They are just more experienced. She also realized that the girls in the tournament eith had a personal coach and trainer, or attended a tennis academy.

“Considering that I don’t have a coach, and I barely practice, I think I did pretty well,” she admits.

Tom also noticed that “kids in the mainland are completely different than in Hawai‘i.”

“They don’t care if you’re nice to them,” she said. “They’ll be mean to you, anyway.”

“They can yell all they want, throw their racquets, and the officials of the tournament won’t do anything,” she said. “Here in Hawai‘i, if you do that, you can lose the match.”

Tom also noticed that most of the girls wear clothes that are so short and small, she wondered how they could move.

Finally, she admits that “having a sassy, bossy attitude isn’t always a bad thing. It can actually get you very far in life. People may hate you, but you can become very successful. Being kind won’t always help you – especially in the mainland.”

In retrospect, Tom said the Easterbowl was a wonderful tournament.

“I learned many new things, not only about the game of tennis, but about myself as a person,” she said. “It has made me stronger, and has helped me to realize how different everything is on the mainland.”

But, more importantly, Tom discovered that she can compete with “these national players because they are not much better than I am.”

“I’m happy I decided to go to the Easterbowl, and I feel that I would do it, again. It was one of the best experiences of my life.”