The Young Tennis Champ – By Ananya Gulati

A long time ago in the countryside of England, there lived an extremely rich family who had one little boy called Henry. Henry was very poor in his studies even though he was getting the best possible education. His parents were always bothered about his future and had a lot of bickering about this topic.

Henry was a very quiet and timid little boy, he did not enjoy socialising very much. He never found interest in studies but instead was lured by the fact that sports could be an amazing career choice as well. During school recess, he used to sit down and stare at the people playing different sports, like tennis, rugby, football and many more. He daydreamed that he was playing sports at an international level but unfortunately his parents never took interest when he told them about his goal.

One fine day he was sitting in his garden staring at the appealing swimming pool in front of him and felt very lonely. Noticing that no one was looking he slipped out of the house and started walking on the footpath. Along the way he noticed kids playing tennis and relished the sight as he went forward he noticed a sports shop which had a beautiful, glimmering tennis racket. Henry could not take his eyes off it! He looked at its price tag and realised that it was two hundred pounds.

“Holy Moly! Two hundred pounds, I can easily afford that, let me buy it!” he said to himself. So he rushed back home and opened his pocket money and bought the racket. During dinner, he told his parents about the racket, and they were extremely cross.
“Why did you waste money on that useless thing, we don’t earn money for it to be wasted. You could have bought hundreds of books and we would have been very appreciative!” said his mother.
“Your mother is right, son, you need to learn your priorities! ” exclaimed his dad.
“But…But mom and dad I want to play tennis like other kids, I love sports. I want to be a tennis player when I grow up!” Henry murmured.
“How did you even get such a horrible idea, don’t even think about it.” mother yelled.
Henry became very upset but did not say anything, he wanted to prove to his mother that he could be an amazing tennis player. So the next day he slipped out of the house again, and he went over to the tennis coach and asked him to teach him.
“But we need your parents to come,” replied the coach.
“I will give you money!” suggested Henry.
“Ah! I bet you can’t play well, go and hit one thousand rallies on the wall.”
One thousand was a huge number and Henry had never played before, why did the coach not want him to play, what did he do wrong? Henry was discouraged, but that did not stop him to burn the candle on both ends. First, he could only manage one hundred but then he got closer and closer to the target. After a week of hard work, Henry had achieved the target, he ran to the coach and shouted “I did it! I did it! I did one thousand rallies on the wall!”
The coach could not believe him and told Henry to play with him. After a few rallies, the coach rubbed his eyes.
“You are born to play!” appreciated the coach.
Henry grinned and told his parents, they were shocked to see Henry’s determination, and his mother said with a smile
“Oh, all right you can play, but remember to focus on your studies also.”
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! You guys are the best parents ever. And I promise I will keep focusing on my studies as well.”
“I hope I took the right decision,” whispered mother to father.
“I hope you did!” guessed father.

From the next day, his coaching began and he worked fingers to the bone, he won from all the players present in the academy and made his parents very honoured. The coach give him the form for many championships and he won them one by one. He was now known by the whole town.

After a few months, he was allowed to play at the national level, he was excited and practised a lot.
Finally, the day awaited came and Henry and his parents came to the match. The player in front of him had been trained for years and had not been lost by anyone before. The game began and at every point, it got closer. Henry smashed, hit incredible volleys, and served many aces. But the opponent was just a little bit better. Henry was heartbroken, he left the stadium and cried in his room. His mother gently came in and explained, “Young man, you are very talented and I am very proud of you. I have also noticed that you have also gotten better at your studies since you are happy now. But remember failure comes in life, you just have to fail fast, learn fast, and win fast! That is how it works, son. I want you to practise harder, spend more time on the court and I know not only him you will win from all the opponents you will face, and become the best of the best. But today you have to go and shake his hands because that is what sportsmanship is!” His mother’s motivating words lifted Henry’s spirits and he worked harder and harder, to become the best tennis player ever to exist! And just in case you are wondering he studied well too!

By Ananya Gulat(age 13)