Our senior team -- -- -- introduction

In 2005 our tennis team made it to the national finals.  The Columbia Maryland based USTA tennis team first won the regional championship then prevailed in the Maryland state championships and then went to the district playoffs.  In the district playoffs the middle Atlantic tennis teams compete -- -- the state champions from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington DC play a winner take all tournament.  Our team won the districts and then proceeded to the national playoffs in Palm Springs California where teams from 17 regions of the United States play for the national trophy.  

Turned out we won several rounds and landed up in the semifinals losing to the eventual champion -- -- we finished as the fourth best team in the United States.

What made all of this interesting was the drama leading up to it.  For about six years previous we had all but won at districts but found some magical way to lose -- -- it was as if there was some underlying mantra keeping this from breaking through to the national championship.  

It seemed some unspoken theme played out year after year -- -- and we were totally frustrated with our incomplete seasons.

The poem was written a year before we went to nationals  -- -- I felt the need to express this 'Casey at the bat' mentality in poetic form.  The magnificent team that somehow doesn't make it was becoming our yearly script, playing out over and over. 

 I felt like the ice had to be broken --- I wrote a pithy irreverent poem to unlock the 'magnificent but find a way to lose' programing. 

they had players who hardly knew each other and all came from different tennis clubs.What made this team special is that it was a neighborhood team that had played together for years, more than twenty years.  All of the other teams that went to nationals were recruited -- -- 

 When a team went to nationals it had to be broken up -- -- so as not to dominate its local league the team members all had to be dispersed on to different teams. 

And that was the underlying subconscious plot being played out!  The team members did not want to be broken up so each year we found a magical way to lose.

This issue is hard --- all the technique, practicing, conditioning in the world wouldn't undo this mantra.  A powerful unspoken destiny was in fact gaining strength year-by-year and no tennis technique was going to undo it.  The more we're practice to overcome the hurdle the more we bonded and the unspoken 'togetherness' agenda had a tighter grip.  

Something bigger then tennis was needed  --- a poem that could reorient our mindset -- -- we had to see things in a new way and break free from what was holding us back.

I wrote the poem at the end of the 2004 season, the team captain gave all 14 members of the team a plaque with the poem inscribed.  The poem addressed our unspoken elephant in the room, the ‘togetherness’ spell was undone and the lyrics had the desired effect-- -- the following year we broke the losing mentality and went to the nationals.