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Matt Johnson and Isaac Stein have been playing tennis together since
they were young children, and they will be competing against each other
during this year’s USTA Boys 18s National Championship which runs
from August 4-13 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo.
Recently, the boys and their parents gathered to discuss their lives
as tennis families and to express the joys and stresses of raising competitive
level athletes. Isaac probably said it best when he said that competitive
tennis is “a group effort”. The effort on the boys’ part
is to practice, perform, and stay motivated. The effort on the parents’ part
is to maintain the schedule, provide transportation, and the finances
that keep everything afloat. The effort for the coach is to teach but
to also keep the players enthusiastic. Both Matt and Isaac train with
Tom Walker in Lansing several days a week.
Because the Stein and Johnson families have been providing tennis support
for their sons for seven or eight years now, they have become good friends.
The families count on each other as well –taking turns driving
or flying to competitions. Their easy friendship and camaraderie is apparent;
they know each other very well. Their conversations often begin, “Remember
when …”
The boys say that the kids at school think they lead glamorous lives
by flitting off to Hawaii, California and Florida on weekends. (Last
year, the boys were gone from home about 25 weekends as they traveled
from tournament to tournament.) They are quick to respond that they always
have to get permission from school to be gone so much, and even though
they might be tired from flying the “red-eye” home from California
or Arizona, they always have to show up at school. Yet, Isaac says, “I
don’t know what I would do with myself if I weren’t doing
this.” Hawaii, California, and Florida hold no special attraction
to them except as the site of a tournament. Matt says that it is more
like a business trip; their business is tennis.
 Matt began playing tennis as a 10-year-old, but Isaac was playing golf
at 2 ½ and tennis at 3. His dad notes that his first word was “ball”.
Playing tennis, practicing four or five times a week, and leading disciplined
lives became routine for both boys at an early age. They wanted to succeed.
What sets these boys apart from the other boys who began playing tennis
with them? Both boys said that they had a greater desire and a more
competitive nature. Isaac says “I have a friend who is much more
talented than I am, but he didn’t want to put in the time practicing.” Both
boys are fiercely competitive. Matt says, “I stay on the court;
I refuse to lose!” At that point, Matt’s Dad, Dave Johnson,
beams with pride.
Isaac’s dad, Bruce Stein, notes that they don’t win all
the time which is more like real life –you win some and you lose
some. Eventually they learn that it is only a game. Both boys have a
will to succeed in other aspects of their lives as well. Both are excellent
students and will be Seniors at Portage Central High School. Isaac spends
part of his day at the Math and Science Center. Both expect to play tennis
in college; Matt at a Big 10 school and Isaac in the Ivy League. At this
point, they are waiting to be recruited.
As they prepare for the USTA, their families continue to be the foundation
upon which they can succeed. We wish them well as they face the challenge
of participating in the top tournament for boys their age. It will be
fun to look for their faces in the newspaper among the faces of boys
from all over the country. And when Matt Johnson and Isaac Stein play,
the entire region will be rooting for our local boys to do well.
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