The Making of a Championship Team – The RJ TENNIS EXTREME – U.S.T.A. Men’s 3.5 Champions

Posted by November 10, 2014 Uncategorized No Comments

The Making Of A Championship Team

From left to right: James Kim, Fabian Poinelli, Ken Wickett, Rob Baily, Barry Sherr, Jing Gu, Scott Davis & Paul Diaz

Anyone who plays in the U.S.T.A. NOVA leagues knows that Rob Carvajal, Jr., of RJ TENNIS® and the Director of Adult Tennis at The Four Seasons Tennis Club,  does what he can each spring to help promote the sport of U.S.T.A. tennis.  In an effort to provide the RJ TENNIS participants with more competitive playing opportunities in the U.S.T.A. leagues, he organizes many teams to compete in the winter and spring U.S.T.A. leagues every year. At least three months before the season starts, Rob spends many hours working with captains to recruit players to build up competitive teams.  As our team was forming, Rob and I would talk about the potential we both saw in this group of players.

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District Champions!

From Left to Right: James Lawrence, JR Johnson, Scott Davis, Rob Baily, Yiping Jia, Barry Sherr, Jing Gu, Fabian Poinelli

In the spring of 2014, I was excited to see that the potential we had seen in our men’s team was actually surpassing our expectations.  The RJ TENNIS EXTREME Men’s 3.5 18-and-over team won both local NOVA HCATL League and Virginia District Championships, boasting a 14-0 record along the way. “We always believed that we were one of the best 3.5 men’s team in Virginia, but that record is still amazing”, as one team member put it.  I felt that we had the advantage of possessing stronger technical skills, and better physical conditioning amongst all of our players.  From my point of view I could see that a lot of players were definitely benefiting from the RJT Clinics.  More importantly, the key ingredient to a successful team is something we called Camaraderie.

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Team Dinner

I was so proud of the team I was captaining.  I would go around and tell anyone who cared to listen about all the stories that made this team so unique. There was Barry Sherr, who would delay his flight for a business trip to play a key match in the local league; there was Ken Wickett, playing under 95-degree sun in a 2.5-hour singles match fighting someone less than half of his age; and there was Yiping Jia, who drove from Sterling to Norfolk at 3 O’clock in the morning to play the key playoff match in the District Championships.  As much as we all love this sport, we have to recognize that league tennis is, after all, a recreational sport. There are many things, such as family, work, personal health, that come before tennis. As a captain, you just have to respect that and plan accordingly.

Almost all the players on the team were computer-rated. We didn’t win matches by using self-rated ringers.  The truth was, it was hard not to win with this group of guys.   I consider myself blessed and am thankful to have been a part of this great and inspiring season.  It was such an honor to captain this wonderful team.

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Front row from left to right: Fabian Poinelli, James Lawrence, Steve Romig

Back row from left to right: JR Johnson, Scott Davis, Rob Baily, Jing Gu, Ken Wickett

What most people don’t know about me was the fact that my recreational tennis career was almost permanently terminated two years ago. In 2012, just when I was finding my stride on the tennis court, an unexpected illness struck. For reasons still unknown to medical experts, I suffered artery blood clots in my left leg. After a couple of unsuccessful operations, the doctors decided to amputate.  Blood flow was completely blocked, the foot was ice-cold, and the [amputation] operation was scheduled for the next morning.  Just a few hours before the operation, a miracle happened.  My body somehow found a way to push trickles of blood down to the foot.  The operation was called off, and six months later I was back on the tennis court.

While it may have sounded easy, the reality was that it took six months full of sweat for the comeback.  It was certainly not easy, and I am very appreciative to those who have supported me in many different ways.  Rob of RJ TENNIS visited me many times when I was in the hospital and prayed for my recovery. He also offered me a full season of free access to the RJ clinics to help me regain my stamina and tennis skills. For that, I am forever indebted to him and RJ Clinics.  Sadly, today’s medical technology cannot bring my leg back to a full recovery, but I keep working hard to compensate for any physical limitations I may have.  I remember lying on that hospital bed, night after night and week after week, in the dark, thinking about my life.  I would like to think I was thankful and appreciative about my life before, but I now have a profoundly renewed appreciation for life. I want to live and be thankful for each day.  I am thankful that tennis is something that brings me unbelievable joy.  I am even more thankful that I can play.

To all of you who were on the team, I am thankful for having had the opportunity to work with the best group of tennis players around.  It was an incredible season.  One that I will never forget.

Respectfully,

Jing Gu

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Team captain Jing Gu is on the right at one of the team’s many outings.

Rob’s comments:

Jing was kind in mentioning and giving some credit to the RJ TENNIS BOOT CAMP, but having coached many championship dive teams, I know what it takes to galvanize a group of individuals and bring them all together under one vision.  It takes selfless and dedicated leadership.  It takes an unwavering commitment and a belief in everyone who is on the team.    Jing has never been a person who likes to bring any attention to himself.  To him, it has always been about his players.  That is one of the many reasons why he is a great captain, but an undefeated season never just happens.  People never stumble into an undefeated season.   This season came about because of Jing’s strong, but yet humble, leadership.   He inspired a whole group of men to work together as one.  Jing was completely dedicated and worked extremely hard and gave of his personal time and energies to make this season happen.  I believe without him this past season wouldn’t have happened.  Thank you, Jing, for all of your time, energies and sacrifices.  The RJ TENNIS EXTREME had an amazing season for which we can all be thankful for and proud of.  It has been an honor and a privilege knowing and working with you.

To the team, Congratulations on an amazing season!  Wow!  Thank you to all of you!

You have my respect and admiration.

Humbly,

Rob the tennis coach

RJ Extreme 3.5 Team Roster

Robert Baily, Andrew Bazemore, Dan Caughey, Scott Davis, Paul Diaz, Jing Gu, Yiping Jia, JR Johnson, Ty Khuong, James Kim

James Lawrence, Paul Lluy, Fabian Poinelli, Rob Quigg, Stephen Romig, Howard Rubin, Barry Sherr, Ken Wickett

E-mails sent to me by a couple of Jing’s teammates:

“Jing Gu was my team captain for the RJ Tennis Extreme team in the spring and early summer of 2014. What started out as one team expanded to two teams with a number of common players (including me), and with Jing Gu as the captain of both teams. One team was in the men’s 18 and over 3.5 USTA league, and the other team was in the men’s 18 and over 3.5 HCTL league. Both teams were very successful, winning their respective league championships. The USTA team went on to win the USTA Virginia District championship in Norfolk, Virginia and to compete in the USTA Middle Atlantic Section Championships in Newport News, Virginia.

During the regular season, as well as in the playoffs, Jing was consistently well organized and prepared. He was fiercely competitive and pushed the players on both teams to succeed. When his players lost, however, he offered encouragement and did not make them feel they let the team down.

Jing studied the opposing teams and had a thorough knowledge of the playing styles of each of our competitors. He prepared the lineups for our matches so that each player in singles and each doubles team were put in the best position to win based on opposing playing styles.   Jing was a strong leader and a positive force. It was a great pleasure to play on his teams.”

Ken Wickett

“I would like to say that Jing was a truly an amazing captain this year.  He juggled 2 teams where many matches were back to back and even overlapping and figured out how to make it work.  He often filled in himself in multiple matches in a day to ensure we had no defaults.  He was always patient when things went a little awry and handled every barrier with grace.  He was a consummate team player and always gave us a chance to win.  Above all he was a good friend.  He always included a social event because he knew that tennis was all about the relationships that we made and less about the winning and losing.  It was a great pleasure to have him as a captain.”

Rob Baily

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