What makes tennis a special part of your life?

Tennis has been a great sport for our whole family, primarily because it is such a wonderful way to enjoy being with friends, whether they’re on the other side of the net or sharing a meal together after the match. The people, kids, parents, coaches and tournament staff our family has met through tennis have enriched our lives beyond measure.

How long have you and your family been playing tennis? How did you all start to play?

My husband played Division I collegiate soccer, and when our children were young, they played soccer and did gymnastics. When they moved the soccer practice far away, we simply switched to tennis because the courts were close to us and in a beautiful setting. I was so happy to be a tennis mom – no more side-line screaming, just smiling and clapping at lovely venues. My husband started playing when the kids did about 10 years ago and has been their primary coach.

Why do you think it’s important for your children to play tennis?

The game of tennis is an excellent setting to learn life skills – integrity first and foremost – as well as the basics, like hard work leads to success as well as failure leads to success!

What are some of your children’s notable tennis accomplishments?

Our older kids enjoyed and excelled in high school tennis at Alamo Heights. Liam finished third at 5A singles UIL state. Solene was the state doubles champion and ESPN Player of the Week. Fiona has been No. 1 in our Texas section and Top 10 in the nation since we moved back to the U.S. from Japan in 2011. She won all Little Mo tournaments and many at all levels thereafter. This year, she was unseeded in her first 16s national at the Easter Bowl and reached the final. She won her closed section championship in June, was the No. 1 seed for both clay courts, which she won, and hard courts, where she made it to the quarters in both singles and doubles. She was then a finalist in the Orange Bowl 16s and the champion of the Girls’ 18 Winter Nationals, all while she was 15 years old.

What has tennis taught you?

Tennis has taught all five members of our family that hard work gets you positive returns, but if it’s the W being sought, you will need more and varied effort.

Is there any other interesting information about yourself you’d like to share?

In an effort to create global tennis unity, we were able to host a group of Japanese juniors in San Antonio. We procured USTA numbers for them so they could compete and asked friends to host each of the five players for a full U.S. immersion experience. They completed their trip at the US Open!