Growing up with a lot of anger issues, I needed something to let it out, To let go of my anger, my emotions. My mother introduced me to Judo and Karate and thought it was a good fit, since I was build quite strongly just like the boys in my group. I was only 6 years old when I started. I didn’t mind only fighting with boys, but after a while I lost myself in the fights and gave into my anger 
and the boys in my group refused to fight me. I started crying and went home, telling my mother that I will never fight again. The fighting lifted my anger issues for a while, but once I quit it got even worse. My mother decided to introduce me to a different kind of sport. She researched for a while to look for something that would suit me best. She signed me up for tennis classes. At first, I didn’t see much of a point in it and it only made me more angry when I didnt hit the ball right. I was about to quit again, but my coach took me aside and helped me focus. But instead of convincing me to let go of my anger, he wanted me to channel my anger. To let it go through my entire body and hit the ball with all the power I have. I loved it. I loved the sport, the emotions and especially I loved being myself when I play. Nobody judges. Nobody gives you a weird look when you scream on the court, when you grunt, when you get mad at yourself.
Years later, I still need the sport. It has become part of who I am. The only way for me to let go of my anger, to channel my emotions. I’m not a pro, not even the best player on my team. But I need the sport; I need it for my body and soul to be balanced. I have build my friendships on the court; in my high school and tennis teams, at tournaments. But now I am working full time and had to move for my job. I cannot play as often as I want to, because it is difficult, if not impossible to find people to play with. Not knowing anybody to play with and not being able to schedule anything ahead, lead to a depressing time for me. I tried to go on the courts by myself and served for a while, but it wasn’t enough. I needed a rally; someone to play with; someone who loves the sport like I do.
And then I went to the Citi Open 2015 and walked past a booth. Tennis Central – A free mobile app to connect tennis players. I rose my eyebrows with a mix of curiousity and interest and walked towards the young men behind the booth. Once they told me about the app, I downloaded it right away. I went home after the matches and started to create my profile on the app, which is very user friendly. I watched some of their tutorial videos and scheduled a match with anothr player in my area. It was so easy and convinient that I first started to doubt it, but then next morning when I went to the agreed meeting point, there was another player waiting for me to play. Download Tennis Central App – The best you can do for your tennis.
By: Shaline M.
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