Someone once asked me, when you were a tennis player, a college coach, and a teaching pro, what was the greatest success by an individual you ever witnessed? The greatest success story I ever witnessed by far was a young man living in Santa Barbara, California in the 1970s. My friend had a dream to become a college tennis coach. He loved teaching, working with, enabling, encouraging young men not only to become better tennis players but better persons. Yet he lacked experience. He needed someone to believe in him. An open door to walk through that could dramatically change his life forever and all those he coached. The offer to lead a college tennis team came from Athletic Director from the University of California Santa Barbara. Go Gauchos! Forty years later, my friend from Santa Barbara has become one of the greatest tennis coaches in college history. A two time NCAA College Tennis Coach of the year, his teams have won multiple conference titles, participated in the NCAAS year after year, he has traveled all over the world leading senior and junior all star teams, and has coached the likes of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. My friend is Greg Patton, a young man who had a dream most didnt believe in. Yet today, he is a tennis legend young players should admire and emulate, I know I do! There was another young man from Santa Barbara in the 1970s that had a dream that didnt come true. He was one of the greatest junior tennis players I ever saw. He defeated the best in the world when he captured the U. S. OPEN 18s singles championship in New York. A year later, as a freshman at Stanford University, he was a valuable member (#4) of the NCAA Mens National Championship Tennis Team. His name was Michael Falberg. His dream was not to coach; but to play professionally. It was a dream that never happened. I remember it like it was yesterday. A bright sunny day in Santa Barbara; the mountains overlooking this coastal city had colored streaks of flowers. One could hear the beautiful blue waves crashing to the ocean shore. I will always remember this day, it was the morning Mike committed suicide. Congratulations, Greg, on another successful season of coaching young men searching after their dreams. In memory in Mike, who you knew, you may want to read this testimony to your players. He was a young man who lost his way, something that didnt have to happen. May your men learn from your example of love for people, faith to achieve, and hard work that pays off. This year, 2014, you will lead another team into the NCAA Tennis Championships with courage and gratitude. I would expect no less. Your friend, Paul Lawrence Bortolazzo
Posted on: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 14:32:25 +0000
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