Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Athletic Culture In The States!



Two years ago, when i set out on my journey of becoming a collegiate athlete in the U.S, i had no idea what was in store and just how demanding it would be to become successful. The pressure on an athlete is major and i believe that this pressure can only make you better. I think that being an athlete under fire from fans and coaches improves your game and makes you work harder and harder every day.

Having grown up in England, this kind of pressure was virtually non existent as you play in front of one man and his dog and winning and loosing is met with similar emotions and feelings. Winning and loosing in a college environment is the difference between a good or bad weekend, a good or bad write up in the media and a chance to either play or be dropped for the next fixture.

My first ever college tennis match was against the Boise State Broncos in an electric atmosphere at the Lobo tennis club. I had never experienced anything like it and the amount of people amazed me. There were a 1,000 lobo fans wanting to see there mens tennis team in action for the first time of the season and i wanted to put on a show. We narrowly lost but my thoughts after the match were ones of disbelief at the amount of support we had and for this reletively small sport just how much the Americans loved it. You certainky would not find this kind of atmosphere at a tennis match anywhere else in the world, let alone England.

As you can probably tell, the culture of sport in America and Englanmd is so different and this may be one of the biggest reaons America has so much succes in tennis and sports in general.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Joe,
    Interesting article! Do you think that this pressure to win is the same for all sports in America? I would think that English footballers have a lot more pressure put on them than American soccer players. What do you think?

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  2. Same question from me. Do the British invest in some other sport with America-like passion?

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  3. Hey, Thanks for your comments, i would definitely say that pressure on England Footballers is far more than American soccer players without a shadow of a doubt. There is Passion in British Sport but no where near the level of passion that Americans have for it. Thats why i am here! they love sport as a whole a lot more!

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  4. honestly, Ihad no idea that American's prided sports more than Europeans... Well i guess it makes sense- we pay tiger woods millions of dollars to play golf, and Michael Jordan millions to play basketball. but tennis? I have never followed tennis, played tennis, or seen tennis besides the movies. I am glad that you got so much support!


    Go LOBOS! :))

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