Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 22, 2016 9A
Channeling my inner Roger Federer ... sort of
L UKAS
E GGEN
Commentary
As I stepped onto the ten-
nis court, staring down my
arch enemy, I paused and
took a deep breath before I
hit my first serve.
My opponent didn’t know
what was about to hit him. I
tossed the ball into the air
and time seemed to slow to
a crawl. I began my serving
motion, made contact with
the ball, and watched with
anticipation to see my sure-
fire ace.
I heard the ball bounce
once, then twice.
Mission accomplished.
Except there was one
small detail standing in my
way. My serve didn’t exactly
make it in the serve area. Or
in our court at all.
My opponent, really my
friend who had the lack of
foresight to agree to my
pleas for a tennis match,
shook his head and started
to jog to retrieve the ball.
When I was 10 or 11 years
old, I took tennis lessons. I
was the star pupil (at least in
my head I was). Clearly
those lessons haven’t stuck
with me through the years.
Instead, I’m stuck with a
forehand that is semi-de-
p e n d a b l e, a b a c k h a n d
where half the time it goes in
the general direction I want
it to, and half the time it ap-
pears as though I’ve closed
my eyes and just swung
wildly at the ball and just
hoped it would land some-
where on the court.
In my defense, my friend
wasn’t a whole lot better
than I was.
The good news, we were a
good match for each other.
The bad news? There was-
n’t a ton of actual tennis
being played. It was more:
hit the ball once or twice,
watch it sail out of bounds,
pause, retrieve said balls,
and repeat.
Riveting, I know.
There were whiffs, balls
sailing over the fence, balls
being hit into the net and
balls hit all over the court.
The only place that proved
difficult to make the balls
land was in our own court.
Not the most promising de-
velopment, especially with
the Monmouth-Indepen-
dence Fourth of July tennis
tournament looming.
But I have a trump card —
one that I expect to give me
an edge to tournament glory
(or at least not hit any inno-
cent bystander with a way-
ward shot).
Dallas hosts an open
court Wednesday evenings.
Among the people there will
be Thomas Gniadecki, Dal-
las High’s foreign exchange
student who placed third at
the 5A boys state tennis
championships.
Will he be able to pass
along his knowledge, skill
and athleticism to me in time
to triumph on July 2 and 3?
No. But, I do intend to pick
his brain, learn a few tips and
maybe, just maybe, go from a
terrible tennis player to a
slightly less terrible one.
Nichols: Plans to train with Kevin Boss
Continued from Page 8A
That dream was dashed when
he was kicked off the team.
“I was crying in the gym every
night because I didn’t have a
team,” Nichols said.
Prior to the 2013-14 season,
Chaffey Community College of-
fered Nichols a chance to play.
He jumped on the opportuni-
ty and averaged 8.6 points, 5.5
assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3
steals per game. He began to get
interest from several Division I
schools, including Washington
State and Santa Clara, but things
unraveled quickly.
“The recruiter at Washington
State, I don’t know what hap-
pened but something fell
through,” Nichols said. “Santa
Clara went with someone else.
That’s the business aspect of
this sport. I was heartbroken.”
With just a few weeks left in
the signing period, Nichols went
from being a sought-after player
to one without a clear sense of
where he could go to play.
Western Oregon entered the
picture, and in two seasons with
the Wolves, he helped lead WOU
to historic success. He still re-
members those days spent cry-
ing in the gym and knows those
experiences will help him for
the ups and downs of chasing a
professional basketball career.
“A lot of my fire comes from
not having an opportunity,”
Nichols said. “When I do have
that chance, I will do everything
I can to fulfill it to its max poten-
tial.”
—
Since the 2015-16 season
ended, Nichols has plotted out
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer file
Julian Nichols, right, played a major role in Western Oregon’s run to the NCAA Division II Final Four.
his course. He traveled to Bend
on Monday to train with former
professional football player and
WOU alumni Kevin Boss and his
staff.
“There are very few people
who genuinely care about
helping the next person,”
Nichols said. “He’s one of those
people. He asked me what I
want to focus on. I told him I
need to put on weight and
work on my strength and ath-
leticism. I feel like if I do that,
everything else will take care of
itself. I know it will be hard
work, but hard work is, like, my
middle name.”
Keeping his basketball skills
sharp is easy.
Finding a chance to show
what he can do is the challenge.
“That’s more of the business
aspect that I’m really unsure
about,” Nichols said. “I can only
control what I can control and
that’s my ability to play.”
Signing with an agent could
be the key to finding tryouts
with teams, either in the United
States or overseas, but finding
the right agent isn’t easy.
“I’m looking for someone who
is up front and honest,” Nichols
said. “I want someone who has
my best interest. I’m family ori-
ented, so whoever is coming
from the outside in, they need
to know how I am and how my
parents are. It’s a relationship
you hope you can build on as
you go.”
But he knows in the world of
professional basketball, some-
times it’s about who you know
that can get you a chance, and
Nichols isn’t about to rush a de-
cision as big as this.
“It’s a real business,” Nichols
said. “A lot of people don’t see
that. It goes back to finding the
right person, and you don’t have
to pay as much attention to that
side of it because they have your
best interest.”
Not having an agent means
finding those chances to show
what he can do are few and far
between.
“The most difficult part is the
waiting process,” Nichols said.
“The past two years, we’ve had a
season, then all our offseason
programs. Now, you have to
make sure you’re ready on call.
You get fuzzy vision, and start to
think, am I doing this right?”
Those doubts are fleeting. In-
stead, he’s focused on being
ready whenever that chance
may be.
“When given the opportuni-
ty, whether it’s a tryout or a
showcase or whatever, I’ll be
ready to go out there and per-
form like I’ve been performing
these last two years,” Nichols
said. “The most exciting part is
I feel like how I did the August
before I first reported at West-
ern. I’m excited to get to work,
show what I can do and prove
myself. I’m ready for this.”
Tennis: Tourney enters Williams: Teammates
43rd year this summer noticing improvement
Continued from Page 8A
Brackets are available for
singles, doubles and mixed
doubles play. There are also
different categories based on
skill level, so no matter if you
fancy yourself the next
Novak Djokovic or have
barely picked up a racket for
the first time, the tourna-
ment offers a chance to hit
the court.
“It would be great to have
new players out,” Youngren
said. “Tennis is leveled into
different flights, so a new
player isn’t trying to strike a
hundred mile an hour
serve.”
Organizers hope to see a
reverse in a recent trend,
which has seen fewer play-
ers turn out.
“Tennis has seen a drop in
competitive play in the last
several years,” Youngren
said. “People shift in how
they spend their time. I’m
hoping the high school kids
get out and practice tourna-
ment play. It’s fun to see
them competing and mixing
together offseason. One
couple who has played to-
gether from Corvallis for
several years calls the tour-
nament their little secret.
Hopefully, we’ll have enough
turn out to make it enjoy-
able.”
Sign-ups for the tourna-
ment are due by noon on
June 29. And come Fourth of
July weekend, be ready for
two days full of tennis, re-
gardless of the weather.
“We have learned that we
should be flexible with the
draws, the weather, etc.,”
Youngren said. “We have
learned that people like to
play in two events, but don’t
like to play in three or more
rounds. We hope to limit
play to two matches in any
given day, unless opponents
agree to a different set up.”
All participants must
bring a can of balls. Cost is
$15 for singles and $25 for
doubles. All proceeds from
the tournament will go to
the promotion of communi-
ty tennis and Central High’s
boys and girls tennis teams.
For many of the partici-
pants, the mix of supporting
the community and getting
a chance to take part in a
shared love of tennis has
helped make the Mon-
mouth-Independence
Fourth of July tennis tourna-
ment one tradition worth
coming back to again and
again.
“Tennis is a wholesome
way to get to know your
neighbors,” Youngren said.
“Tennis is something the
whole family can do. It’s a
fun experience because of
the community of tennis
players. Many players have
played in this tournament
for a number of years. It’s
great to get together. It’s also
a great time for newcomers
because it is low-keyed.”
Continued from Page 8A
Others saw the difference
during the Chargers’ spring
organized team activities.
Perhaps the most en-
couraging was from starting
quarterback Philip Rivers,
who
told
the
Chargers.com’s managing
editor Ricky Henne that
Williams impressed Rivers
with his work ethic and
drive.
“(Tyrell) is one of those
guys that you saw flashes of
(last year that) this guy
could be something,” Rivers
said. “You all saw those
flashes. … Gosh, he played
at a small school, but if he
could come along, he could
have a chance. And I think
he would even tell you that
he’s still coming along, but
it does look like he’s going
to have a chance to make
the team and help us. We’ll
see as he continues to
progress, but he’s come a
long way since last year. …
He’s hungry. He takes every
little thing you give him,
and I have seen him get
steadily get better every sin-
gle game. … His arrow and
game are ascending quick-
ly.”
Williams, who practiced
with both the first and sec-
ond team offenses, knows
he’s still a work-in-progress,
but his approach has
changed drastically from a
year ago.
“Last year, my main thing
was to do what I need to do
to make the team,” Williams
said. “I was always kind of
nervous and tried not to
mess up. For me personally
this year, I’m trying to make
an impact on the field and
Solution on Page 11A
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer file
Monmouth-Independence’s Fourth of July tennis tourna-
ment offers singles, doubles and mixed doubles play.
be out there every down. I
want to make sure I’m
ready to go for games. My
mentality isn’t just making
the team anymore, it’s mak-
ing a difference on the
field.”
Williams hopes that drive
allows him to not only land
a spot on the Chargers 53-
man active roster, but a
chance to continue living
out his dream and becom-
ing one of San Diego’s go-to
passing options.
“Every day I come out
on the field and I can’t be-
lieve I’m there,” Williams
said. “I always make sure I
know and appreciate what
I have. It’s crazy to me to
be given the opportunity
to play. I want to go out
there every single practice
and make as many plays
as I can.”