The International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) TeamFAME middle and high school girls were joined by the Salve Regina University Women’s Tennis Team at the first ever Rally for Her: From Teammate to Leader empowerment event. Launched by ESPN and Tennis Channel commentator and six-time major champion Rennae Stubbs, the event included an afternoon of tennis round robin competition, skill-building and a candid conversation about leadership between Stubbs and participants on Monday, November 17.
The three-hour program started out with a sports clinic where the middle and high school and college students had the opportunity to be coached by Stubbs in the indoor courts at ITHF. A celebration of resilience, confidence and agency, participants were inspired to be coached by the former world No. 1 doubles player.
After a spirited rally, the TeamFAME and Salve Regina students moved to the TeamFAME headquarters at the Chris Ever Center for an intimate talk with Stubbs. Several took notes in attendance as Stubbs spoke about her beginnings in Sydney, Australia and her musings on discipline, curiosity to keep learning and love for the game. Megan Erbes, ITHF’s Director of Communications moderated a Q & A session with Stubbs, who spoke about resilience during tough moments in high profile matches.
Stubbs spoke about missing a key shot in one of those matches: “I would have probably ruminated over that for a day,” she said, continuing, “And instead of worrying about it and ruminating and thinking about it, I just said, ‘Let it go.’
“Because I let go of the negative, I was able to perform at my best. Now, I might not have won the match, but I would have been able to deliver myself in the future, because, again, I gave myself a 100 percent chance to try and win the match, because I was good to myself.”
She imparted sage advice at the summit, telling them about the transformative power of positivity and self-belief. She explained that a positive mindset for her made the difference between winning and losing, adding a message about not dwelling on mistakes.
“So for all of you in here that have a hard time sometimes letting go or feeling negative about yourself or not feeling good enough, you are your own best friend, you always have to be positive with yourself, because what you want to look for and aspire to in the bad times is to always look to the positive.”
Stubbs also worked as Serena Williams’ coach during her final U.S. Open and talked about how the communication and strategic thinking skills she honed as a doubles player informed her coaching methodology.
“And a lot of people probably think, ‘what can I teach Serena?’ Stubbs explained, “She was very curious about wanting to do better. And so you’ve all been here today. You’re all curious about how to be better as people, as tennis players, as young women. The thing that makes people great is what they do is they’re curious to be better.”
The six-time major winner applauded the supportive environment she observed at the TeamFAME headquarters.
“I love the message today about always saying something positive because you young women here are the leaders of our next generation.”
She said it was important for women to support other women. “So one of the things that women get a bad rap for is that they don’t support each other, which I 100% disagree with. I think that if you want to see women be successful, you guys are at that age now where you should support one another, not tear each other down.
“Being supportive of one another is crucial for your success in life, because women that support women have more and more success.
“That’s what I’ve seen today. And I love the message of being positive about even if you lose the point. And also ask each other questions.”
The special event was funded by a $5,000 Gainbridge® Assists Powered by Parity grant, a program with Gainbridge®, Parity, and the Women’s Sports Foundation®(WSF®). The support is part of a broader national initiative that awarded $222,000 to 32 organizations across 21 states to advance opportunities for girls and women through sports.
ITHF hopes that Rally for Her will become at least an annual event at the TeamFAME Chris Evert Center. Judging from the enthusiastic reaction from the participants, we are excited to see this become a regular initiative.
