Amanda (Amy) Hodges, a fourth grader at Oakwood Country School.,
was one of the winners of the SAP Open Mens Tennis Essay Contest.
The subject was Sportsmanship and Tennis. Amy took home a tennis
racket as her prize after taking part in warm-up drills on the
court for spectators at the HP Pavilion on
Amanda (Amy) Hodges, a fourth grader at Oakwood Country School., was one of the winners of the SAP Open Mens Tennis Essay Contest. The subject was Sportsmanship and Tennis.
Amy took home a tennis racket as her prize after taking part in warm-up drills on the court for spectators at the HP Pavilion on Kids’ Day at the Open.
Here is the essay:
Tennis is a very exciting sport. I enjoy it with my family and friends. Tennis is a very popular sport. It started in the 1800’s. Kids in England played it on their front lawns after school. Tennis is still popular today, and everyone can play it. What is fun to understand about tennis is how to play, learning the rules, and what is good sportsmanship.
Before you can begin, you need to know how to play the game. The equipment you need is a racket, a ball, and a court. The rules you need to know are where to hit the ball and how to score. Points are called love, 15, 30, 40, and game. The sets of games are: game, set, and match.
Sportsmanship is important because you want to be noticed as an admirable person. To show good sportsmanship you need to be respectful, don’t brag, don’t criticize, and don’t be a bad sport. To have good sportsmanship you need to be truthful in case the ball bounces twice, or bounces out of bounds. You need to set a good example for the people who are watching and you need to play fairly.
In the early 1980’s a player named John McEnroe was nicknamed “Super Brat”. He had bad sportsmanship in the game more than anyone else. He used to curse at the ref, and he once threw his racket at the ref. He used to shout at the crowd disapprovingly. He had a rival named Jimmy Connors. Jimmy also had bad sportsmanship.
On the court he wanted to win as anyone would have wanted to, but he would argue with the ref. McEnroe and Connors played against each other at The Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimledon, and the US Open. There was a good tennis player named Arthur Ashe who was a good sport. He was very respectful, didn’t brag and didn’t criticize anyone. He would be a good winner and a good loser. The U.S. Open Stadium is named after him.
Isn’t it exciting that we learned about the rules, how to play, and we learned about how good sportsmanship is important in the game of tennis!
