Land of Opportunity

The semifinals of this year's US Open features two American men squaring off against one another, both looking for their first major title in professional tennis. And, while both men find themselves in the same spot in the draw, their path to get there could not have been more different. But they do share one commonality that is vital for players to move from youth sports to professional ranks; exposure to the game and fostering a love for it!

When Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe take the court on Friday, they will certainly make history. One of them will be the first black man to reach the tournament's finale since 1972 (Arthur Ashe) with the chance of becoming the first black man to win the US Open since Arthur Ashe did it in 1968, not to mention the first American male to win since 2003. Fittingly, the match will be played inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

But Shelton and Tiafoe represent more than those facts. Their stories symbolize how environment can create opportunity.

When these two were children, if you had to predict which one would end up playing in the US Open, Shelton is the obvious choice. His mother and father were both exceptional tennis players, Father Bryan Shelton ranked as high as #52 on the ATP Tour (professional men's tennis) then coached both Georgia Tech and Florida to NCAA national championships.

Tiafoe's father, on the other hand, was not an accomplished tennis player; arguably his greatest contribution to his son's success was working at a tennis center. Tiafoe's parents immigrated to the United States from Sierra Leonean (West Africa) in the mid-90s to seek refuge from their country's civil war.

The Shelton's have already had some story-book experiences. Ben's freshmen year at Florida, with his dad as the Head Coach, he won the deciding match for the Gators to win the National Championship! That was all I wanted to do as a college player, win the deciding match for my team, and my senior year at North Alabama, I got to do that. It was just to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, but the feeling is still the same. Having your teammates rush towards you after the final point is awesome at any level!

And Bryan Shelton is still his son's coach. You can see him courtside at every match passionately encouraging his kid! He certainly has a future in consulting us other dad-coaches on how to have a positive sports relationship with our own kids.

Tiafoe's dad as mentioned previously worked at a tennis center. And not just any tennis center. Constant Tiafoe was the on-site custodian at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, MD. Not sure if it was on purpose or pure accident, but Tiafoe, Sr. put his sons in front of arguably the best junior tennis program in the country! JTCC has produced tons of college tennis players, but to me what they are best at is developing fundamental rally skills and a love of the game in young players. Ingredients you need to be a high-level player.

Contant Tiafoe was given a place at the facility to live, and Frances and his twin brother Franklin lived with him. 24-hour access to tennis courts, the Tiafoe brothers soon began playing and then at age 5, joined the junior tennis program at JTCC. So while Frances' father may not have been able to teach his sons the technical and tactical skills of tennis, he without a doubt put them in a position to learn and develop as an athletes and tennis players. Frances brother Franklin went on to play college tennis at Salisbury University.

Contrary to what one might think when you see Ben Shelton, son of a former professional player, he did not have a Tiger Woods type "groom my toddler to stardom" upbringing. He played multiple sports as a child, and you can see that when he plays with the quickness, explosiveness, and creativity he demonstrates on the court. I presume he eventually landed on tennis as that was probably the most talked about at the Shelton house and he felt a connection with his parents through the sport. His sister Emma also played tennis at the University of Florida.

The biggest thing I'm guessing that Bryan Shelton did for his kids was not to freak out when they were 10 or 12 or even 15! Just stayed the course, trusted the process as we have all been told a thousand times but most of us rarely do. And likely because he let his kids experience a variety of sports, they were less pressured to make tennis a career and came to it on their own terms.

Frances Tiafoe is no stranger to other sports either. While I'm not sure if he played basketball competitively in his youth, he does love playing basketball socially, is a huge Washington Wizards fan and uses basketball as cross-training for tennis. Tiafoe's passion for tennis started early on and coaches soon took notice of his work ethic, guiding him on a path to be a competitive junior player. Through this dedication, Tiafoe won some of the top international junior tournaments when he was just 14 and 15 years old. He then became the #2 junior tennis player in the world, which led to him turning professional at 17 years old.

When these two men step on the court Friday night, they bring with them very different yet equally intriguing stories of how they got there. What runs parallel is that their families gave them both a recipe for success, and it started with access. Both families put their child in a position to watch the game and learn from others, entrance to an environment that fostered a love of tennis and a way to get really good at it!

I am sure Ben Shelton spent many childhood hours sitting on a court bench watching his dad run a college practice or coaching a college match. I can picture a young France Tiafoe watching a group of older kids play at JTCC while his dad was emptying trash cans, organically absorbing every move they made before making it his own. Tennis was all around him, I mean the kid literally lived at the tennis center!

Parents can learn a great deal from the Shelton's and Tiafoe's. One was on the grounds of a tennis center daily; the other followed his dad around the courts of college tennis. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe have probably watched as many tennis matches as they have played! Something few kids do these days. Watch sports!

Now, one could argue that their access to the sport was easy since both have parents that had tennis jobs with environments where "bring your child to work" was commonplace. That's true. But their stories can be motivators for parents to create positive sports environments for their kids. And I'm not talking about a putting them on the road to becoming a professional. I've sat in those "Creating the Next US Open Champion" meetings and it's exhausting! So much has to happen for that to become a reality, don't set yourself up for unhealthy decisions with regards to your kids' youth sports experience. Show them that sports are fun and give them access to see it and experience it. Put the child in a good environment and let them grow!

A good place to start is playing catch in the backyard or shooting hoops in the driveway, then turn on the TV! There are more sports being televised than ever before. Just this week, I have watched men's tennis, women's tennis, football, baseball, women's basketball, and volleyball without leaving my couch! Just watch with your kids and they'll organically start picking up stuff about the sport.

When I watch Shelton and Tiafoe play, the first thing that comes to my mind is FUN! They both show how much fun they are having playing tennis, the same passion I am sure they had playing the game as kids. Pure joy. When I run a juniors practice, I will intentionally step back for a few minutes and just watch the kids play. No coaching at that moment, just quietly observe their growing enjoyment for hitting a ball back and forth.

Fall in love with the basics. I tell my baseball players all the time, if you don't love playing catch it is going to be very difficult for you to develop as a baseball player. The same for tennis players. You have to enjoy the simple activity of rallying to develop the other skills needed to play this sport well. And something that is clear when you watch Shelton and Tiafoe play, those dudes can freaking rally! And they love it!

That's what we need to see. That is what our children need to see! As Tom Selleck said in Mr. Baseball (1992), "baseball's a game, and games are meant to be fun." Tennis is no different.

Good luck to Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. I hope you both win! Bring the passion gentlemen. We can't wait to watch you!