The Middle [18-26]

The Division 2 PeachBelt Conference and NAIA is a super tough level of play!  I had no idea what I was getting into but this was a very high level of competition.  Our college was in a transition period from NAIA to NCAA Division 2 when I arrived for the 2005-06 season.  Our first official year in D2 was 2006-2007, which was also my last year at Georgia SouthWestern.  The PeachBelt Conference that we competed in was likely the toughest conference in the Nation for Division 2 tennis.  We had the likes of Valdosta State, Columbus State, North Georgia and Georgia College & State.  Valdosta and Columbus were both National titlist and the remaining two Georgia schools were both solid programs in their own respect. 

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The NAIA as a whole is quite an interesting place to be for collegiate athletics, especially Tennis.  The governing body has a bit of a loophole where former professional players (who are no longer competing on the circuit) have a chance to attend college and compete on scholarship. They are given partial eligibility to do so which typically results in a 2-3 year eligibility status.  This made a very attractive competition grounds for many Futures/Challengers circuit players to try their hand at the pro level and see how they do.  It allowed them to train and compete in some of the most unforgiving tennis atmospheres and then come to secure, scholarship college opportunities to play for a couple more years while getting a degree.  You are not a kid anymore when you go to the Futures level of tennis and beyond.  The ones who did this for even just a year would have had an expedited advanced level of training that would set them apart from their peers.  I wasn’t a bad tennis player in my own respect; however, but I was a 3-star recruit coming from junior tennis. I came in starting at #1 singles for a program known to have the toughest conference in the nation.  The guys I had to play (some were fully grown Men) were absolute competitors, physically developed and deployed all measures of tactics and gamesmanship.  The skinny, 140lb 5’9” Indian child was not equipped for this mentally or physically.  It was a whirlwind of emotions, confusion, desire, and self-doubt.

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In both years of college tennis at Georgia SouthWestern, my win-loss ratio was not the best and it actually took many matches in the first year to finally get my first win.  Claiming my first college tennis singles win was a massive achievement for me. I had not faced so many losses in a row since I was 11 years old.  However, this time period did something to me as a tennis player that I didn’t quite understand until much later in my 20s.  I had to learn to lose, lose often, and lose to players who were in some cases far superior to me in tennis abilities.  I was playing against some amazing tennis players, guys who trained at a high level of junior competition and likely even Futures/Challenger qualifying circuit from their youth.  I didn’t know anything about ITF Circuit except what I slowly uncovered in that first year.