Ten Years of Tennis Come to An End

After ten years and eleven seasons the Heinisch family said goodbye to high school tennis tonight.  We had hoped that Cameron would be able to extend the season just a little longer by making it to the singles sectional, but a top #1 doubles court on a 20-0 Goshen team had other ideas.  Cameron and Breece fought hard and made the match close, but in the end fell short at 6-4, 6-3.  In true Heinisch tradition they were the last team on the court commanding a full audience.  Even with the loss and the bittersweet end of high school tennis, Cameron was all smiles afterward.  It had been a roller coaster of a season for him, but in the end he was extremely proud of how much he had grown and how well the team had played this year overcoming several adversities.  

As I drove home tonight I thought a lot about the Cal, Meg and Cameron playing tennis.  All three had taken lessons during their youth and Cameron had even played on the middle school tennis team with Matt from 5th to 8th grade.  Even with all of the time devoted to tennis, I still wouldn't call us a "tennis family."  They loved playing, but it definitely was not any of the threes #1 sport.  They played because they enjoyed it, had friends on the team and liked to keep busy.  All were valid reasons to participate in a high school sport.  

Even if it wasn't their number one sport, I could easily say that it was my number one sport to watch.  I have so many wonderful memories of their time on the court.  Cal's two hour and fifty minute three set win against Whitko his sophomore year was a highlight, as was Meg's first NLC win at #1 singles ironically on the same court where Cameron played his last match.  Meg and Cal both being named MVP in the same year at Wawasee.  The three of them driving their opponents crazy by yelling "No" after every missed shot or serve.  Cameron's comeback win against Northwood's #1 singles last year, being down 5-0 and then finishing the match with a 7-5, 6-0 victory.  The win was not only impressive, but the confidence that he gained that night carried him through his junior and senior season.  The eight year relationship he built with Matt on the tennis court was truly a joy to watch as well.  

I never planned on us being the "team mom", but was really glad that we signed up for the role.  It made the last year of high school tennis even more fun.  As sad as I was that it was all over, I thought about the words that Roger Voirol told me when Cal quit playing basketball, "It had to end sometime."  He was right then and still right today.  Thankfully, it ended on a high note and added to our special memories of the Heinisch children playing high school tennis.

Tennis Sectionals Round 1

Tonight was the first round of sectionals for the Bethany Bruins.  Their opponent was Northwood, who they beat 4-1 in the regular season.  Even though they won a few weeks ago, everyone was still nervous about this evening's match.  Bethany's sectional lineup was different from what it was on September 9th.  Due to Oscar's injury and inability to play tennis for most matches, Cameron had played half of his matches at #1 singles this season and the other half at #1 doubles.   It had been a hard adjustment for Cameron at first, but once he did, he played both positions well and helped his team to key wins during the season.  For sectionals, Matt felt that his best lineup was to put Cameron at #1 doubles with Breece and to move the rest of the singles players up.  It made for strong #1 courts, but slightly weaker #2 and #3 singles.  The #2 doubles remained the same, but they had gone to three sets to win in a hard fought match the last time.  Thus, everyone knew tonight's match would be tough.

There was another thought on everyone's mind that was a lot bigger than tennis.  Matt's family had had an emotionally exhausting week following a tragic accident.  Supporting Matt was a priority and added a little bit of pressure on the magnitude of the match.  Of course Matt wouldn't be disappointed if they lost, but it sure would be nice to get a win for him.  We were so glad that he felt well enough to coach this evening.

Tonight's match started off as expected.  Noah easily won against Northwood's #1 and was the first one off of the court.  Cameron and Breece started a little slower, but soon found themselves with three first set points at 5-2.  They lost that game, but never looked back from there, winning the next seven games in a row to finish the match at 6-3, 6-0.

There was some relief when Cameron and Breece walked off of the court.  Even if the team lost, they would move on with Noah to the individual state sectional tournament.  As nice as that sounded, we all hoped that the team would win.  The next three matches were tense ones.  The #2 doubles team along with #2 singles both went to a third set.  While they were playing, Ian was still in his second set on the #3 singles court.  He won a tight first set 7-5 and was in a back and forth rally in the second one.  Fortunately, he held on and won 6-4 to close out a victory for Bethany.  It was an exciting win for him and a wonderful win for the team.  Unfortunately, the other two courts lost, but overall it was a fantastic night for the Bruins and a fabulous way to honor a beloved coach.  Next up is Goshen.  It would be a tall order to beat them as they finished 20-0 in the regular season, but worrying about that can wait for tomorrow.

"Mom, I'm Freezing!"

Cal texted me last night rethinking his decision to live in Chicago.  He was at the Cubs game with his work group and said that it was absolutely freezing.  I empathized with immediately as it had been drizzly, cold and windy here all day.  I told him that I was actually so cold that I was debating if I'd rather be here or in Florida with Doug prepping for a hurricane.  He wouldn't go that far, just wanted his bed and space heater.  Thankfully, I had my fireplace on and was sitting next to it.

Cal wasn't the only one that was cold these past few days.  Meg was dressed in full winter clothing - jeans, layers and sweaters.  She was just as annoyed as I was that we went from shorts and t-shirts to winter wear totally skipping long sleeve shirts and capris, which was definitely my favorite clothing style.  Hopefully, that type of weather will return next week and stay for a little while.

A bigger shock to me than Cal and Meg's feelings on the cold snap, came from Brett.  He said that it was finally cold enough for him to turn off his air conditioning.  His apartment reached a low of 63 degrees which actually made him turn on his heat.  He planned to keep it set at 67 degrees, a warm up from his normal temperature setting.  I doubt the heat stays on too long for him.  He definitely likes it a lot colder than I do.  I guess for now, my fireplace here will just get a good workout this week.

What a Tragedy

We received an email mid-morning to let us know that there was an accident at Bethany this morning.  As I hadn't heard anything from Cameron, I was a little surprised.  I read through the email and instantly became sick to my stomach.  The school's technology director had been hit by a car in the parking lot this morning and had to be airlifted to Memorial Hospital.  I texted Meg right away to let her know.  She called as soon as she got out of class feeling absolutely awful.  Peter had always been nice to her and her classmates.  As were were talking she happened to see her priest on campus, so she went to him for prayers for all involved. 

While Meg was with her priest, I texted Cameron to see how he was doing.  He said that he felt terrible for Peter and Matt's families.  I hoped that the answer to my next text "Was Matt the one who hit him?" was no, but unfortunately it was not.  Blinded by the sun, Matt never saw Peter step in front of him.  The news was just terrible and continued to get worse.  Peter died from his injuries shortly before noon.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about the accident.  I thought about Peter's family, especially his grandchildren.  I thought about Matt and his children witnessing the accident.  I thought a lot about the Bethany community knowing that there were several doctors and nurses on staff that were involved in trying to save Peter.  The sadness of it all was almost too much.  Matt had been extremely supportive of Cameron over the past few months.  I couldn't even imagine the pain he was going though.

I talked with Meg and Cameron later in the day.  They both mentioned the "Bethany curse."  I agreed that there had been a lot of tragedies in the Bethany community over the past few years.  I didn't know if there were more or less than in other schools, but I did realize that the size and closeness of the staff, students, and families at Bethany made the tragedy felt more deeply.  Ultimately, I told them both that I do not believe that there is a "curse" on Bethany.  Instead I believe that God knows that there will be tragedies in these families lives and He brings them to Bethany so that they will have a supportive community to help them through the tough times.  I don't know if I am right or if I am wrong, but it does give me peace.  

"That's What You Get for Being a Lions Fan"

The weather was miserable today, so we stayed home, played cards and watched football.  Cameron was the big winner at cards, but not so much with football.  His beloved Lions led the entire game only to make a horrendous play call late in the game giving the ball back to the Vikings in time to score one last touchdown to win the game.  Adding insult to injury for Cameron, the Bears pulled out a narrow win against the Texans.  Cameron complained about the games later to his Dad.  Doug listened for a little bit, but then quickly added, "That's what you get for being a Lion's fan."  Cal agreed wholeheartedly.  If the Lions poor play continues and the Bears fall apart as Cal has predicted, it might be a long NFL football season in the Heinisch home.  

Wabash Invitational

Today was the Wabash Tennis Invitational.  Cameron was excited for the tournament as they had won last year and he liked their chances this season as well.  Besides Wabash and South Adams, a new team had been added.  Cameron didn't know a lot about Taylor, but felt confident anyway.  He would be spending the day at number one doubles with Breece and was positive that they would go 3-0.  

The day started off chilly.  Grandma and I didn't even get out of the car because of the temperatures and wind.  Fortunately, Breece and Cameron played on the court right in front of our car.  Whether we were inside or out, the game was super fun to watch.  The boys played extremely well against Taylor and won easily.  The rest of the team followed suit and walked off of the courts 5-0 in their first match.  

Before the second match started, Doug and I took a walk around Wabash Middle School.  I told my mom to call us if Cameron and Breece were on the court again before we got back.  We weren't gone very long, so I was surprised when she called to let us know that Cameron was playing again.  As soon as she said it was with Tristan, I realized what had happened.  She thought Emerson was Cameron.  That definitely was funny, but not the first time that someone's grandparent had confused Cameron for Emerson or vice versa.

Bethany played Wabash in the second round.  It was a repeat for Cameron and Breece as they played extremely well again, winning easily.  The rest of the matches were closer than the first round.  Bethany hung on to beat Wabash 4-1, narrowly losing the #2 doubles court and winning the #3 singles court with an impressive 11-9 third set tiebreak score.  The last match of the day was the most competitive for #1 doubles.  South Adams played the best that they could taking a few games from Bethany, but overall Cameron and Breece were just too much for them.  Bethany won the remaining courts with #2 doubles coming back from a 2-5 deficient to win in a tiebreak.  The boys won the tournament for the third year in a row.  The day that started chilly and uncertain ended up a beautiful one that we all enjoyed.   

 

 

Homecoming

Bethany decided to have a homecoming this year for the first time.  As a senior, Cameron was lukewarm about the idea.  He did participate in several of the activities including the spirit week dress themes.  He hosted a senior night at our home devoted to working on the class float.  He also made plans to attend all of the senior sports recognition nights and hoped to go to as many home sporting events as possible this week.

Tonight was the activity that he was most looking forward to attending - the homecoming dance.  He made plans to go with Alina.  They coordinator their outfits perfectly, her with a navy dress, him wearing all black with a black and blue bow tie.  When he got home tonight, he said that he had had a lot of fun.  We were very glad to hear that.

The only homecoming activity that we were able to attend that was not tennis related was the cross country senior recognition night.  It was nice to hear all of the speeches that Benji gave tonight, especially the one about coaching Samuel.  Once the recognition was over, Doug and I headed to Goshen Brewing Company to meet Mary and Ken.  They love the restaurant as much as we do, so it was the prefect place to get together.  We caught up over dinner and a few drinks, thoroughly enjoying the night.  It wasn't a Bethany homecoming event, but it was a wonderful activity for us during such a busy week.