2015 Washington DC Citi Open Our First Professional Tennis Tournament

I took Laylah to our first ever professional Tennis match.  We rode the subway to Wisconsin Ave and caught the commuter bus to the event,  I could see the amusement on her face.   As soon a we arrived to our set, I remember having a conversation with an older white gentleman sitting close to me. He seemed eager to conversate with someone he didn’t know as if he could smell our newness in the air, being totally out of our normal element.  He stated that his son loved tennis and would love to be a professional tennis player.  I asked him what’s the problem with his son being a professional tennis player and he said that he’s not in that 1 percent.  Meaning that he has the will to play but not the gift. That was strange because I bought one of those 1 percenter with me, my daughter Laylah Webb.  

I would carry that conversation with me for years to come, considering I took my athletic ability for granted because most of my family played multiple sports and sports came naturally like breathing air.  In the Black Community it wasn’t about you having the ability to be great, it was about someone developing you and building your confidence to match your talent. 

 Our first match  watching was Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia). It was a great colorful experience.  

While walking around at Citi open, we entered a contest, hitting the tennis ball into some small holes for a prize.  Laylah won and I lost, she won some sort of prize.  I received an email stating that we had also won a free family tennis lesson at the YMCA tennis center in Arlington Virginia. This was very strange to me because I won something, and by the time I checked my email the offer had not expired yet. WoW!

We would take those free family lessons at the YMCA.  While we were practicing the Director noticed how good Laylah was performing on her court, she was the only kid still hitting on her court by herself.  

The tennis Director was the Late Mel Labet ex. Hampton University Tennis and Football, HBCU coach.  Mr. Labet was amazed on Laylah athletic ability and invited her to attend his tennis camp the following week for free, “that right I said free”  In our five years Laylah has competed in many sports (soccer, baseball, Ice skating, gymnastics and swimming)  and nobody has given us anything for free.  In one week we had already received free lessons and a free tennis camp.  

Mr. Labet urged  me to continue working with Laylah and advised me to keep her involved in as many sports  as possible while continuing to play tennis.  He noticed her natural talent and enjoyed seeing her speed on the court at the early age of five.  We would attend the program for the Holiday school break and summer camp.  Mr. Labet was truly a bessing to us.