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Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Meadowcreek players get lesson in perseverance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In practice, he’d play great.
In professional tennis tourneys, though, he’d stink up the court.
“It took me four years to win any money,” said Ellis Ferreira, a native of South Africa who played collegiate tennis at Alabama before a decade-long professional career.
“I couldn’t win a match. It was very frustrating.”
By the time he retired in 2003, though, Ferreira had been crowned the No. 2 tennis player in the world. He never quit as a professional tennis player and doesn’t plan to now that he’s an Atlanta entrepreneur, either.
And that’s the message Ferreira, who recently launched a tennis apparel line, gave eight Meadowcreek High football players whose Mustangs have lost 27 straight games.
“Get past the losses and the negativity,” Ferreira told the seven seniors and lone sophomore on Sunday. “I admire what you’re doing. You’re still on the team, and you’re here today.”
“Here” was the Vinings Club, a private social, business and athletic club located in Atlanta. The kids got to see the downtown skyline and beautiful homes in the Vinings village. They had a laid-back, real-world chat with three business people who’ve experienced obstacles, yet rose like phoenixes.
Ferreira was joined by Danielle Rieppi, events planner for the Vinings Club; Spencer Walker, a former Wake Forest defensive back now in the technology field; and John Saad, a Wake Forest alumnus and Vinings Club member who works in insurance.
Their message was universal. Opportunities abound. You just have to be prepared. You have to dress right. (The athletes wore shirts and ties). Respect people. And have a backup plan.
“Education — my dad beat that into me,” Rieppi said. “He told me that I had to make myself marketable. If you don’t have the opportunity to play football, you have to have a way to support yourself, a backup.”
Of course, none of this is rocket science. Students Lloyd Collins, Justin Thomas, Lamarr Person, Cory Shafer, Jamell Clarke, Anthony Kitson, Arlandus Bouye and Jackie Monroe have heard it all before. So have I, but never in a setting like where I heard it Sunday.
Johnny Barrett, a Meadowcreek booster who arranged the presentation, wanted the kids to hear it in a swank setting that might be alien but quite obtainable with perseverance.
Sunday’s event is part of a project that Barrett has undertaken on behalf of the school.
“I want them to stand on that third floor and pick the building they want to own or look at the house they want to own one day,” Barrett said.
“This isn’t about football. It’s about people.”
