Aaron Lapkin '11 Recruiting Profile

Aaron Newman Lapkin 1641 Morningstar Road Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009 307-630-6555 (c) 307-637-6175 (h) [email protected] The local joke among tennis players in Cheyenne Wyoming goes, "In your tennis bag you have a tennis racquet and a snow shovel," but in all reality it is no joke. How can a Jamaican bobsled team compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics? They can do it by learning to achieve their goals despite certain odds against them. This motivation to conquer adversity separates the "good" from the "great." Overcoming certain obstacles makes me more independent and determined as well. It gives me the determination to succeed in competitive tennis despite coming from such a rural and cold weather area; In short, it drives me and defines who I am not just as a tennis player, but as a person, and it certainly will allow me to better accept the challenges of college and more importantly, the challenges of life. Three years ago, six weeks into my freshman year of high school, I won my first number one high school state single's championship, weighing only 89 lbs. and standing 4'10�" tall, and playing in winds up to 40 miles per hour. During that state tournament, I beat several players who now compete at the Division I and II levels. Last year, I played the first match of the Wyoming state high school tennis tournament in thirty degree weather, wearing ski gloves and a winter coat covered in snow. I won that state tournament and the one the year before it too becoming the first boy in Wyoming's history to win three straight number one single's titles, and I hope to complete a "four peat" this fall. In USTA tennis I have reached a sectional ranking as high as eight, have had wins and close losses against top 150 national players, and have won doubles at a closed sectional event and haven taken third twice at one as well. Last May I palced fifth at the Intermountain closed 18's sectional tournament in Boise. Cheyenne Wyoming presents many challenges to realizing my potential as a junior competitive tennis player. Our part time indoor facility is a rodeo pavilion with a portable, plastic tile surface made by a company that has been out of business for twenty years. The four months of outdoor play take place at an altitude of 6100 feet, very low humidity, and in the fifth windiest city in the United States; learning to compete in winds of -on average- 30 mph is very mentally challenging but if I can work the points in 30 mph winds then it will just be that much easier when playing at tournaments with no wind. Playing with these variables only makes me a more adaptable player, and in my future this versatility will help me to adapt to the unpredictable moments in my life. Training for competitive tennis in Wyoming also helps me to become more independent, assertive, and compromising. Cheyenne offers no organized structured junior tennis program. I create my own structure and plan. The greatest challenge is finding practice partners. Since age eleven, I have had to find adult practice partners; I was always a bit nervous calling a middle aged man to hit with me, a seventh grader. In addition, One of my hitting partners is also my little brother Jacob, five years my junior. I practice with him day in and day out and make the most out of it. He seems to have made the most out of it as well; this past August he competed in the boy's 12 National Championships. Junior tennis has also helped me to manage my time better and to become more organized. For example, before my junior year of high school I would travel to Fort Collins, Colorado for a junior group a few times a week. I spent the two hour round trip car rides doing my homework or planning. Local tournament play usually required extensive travel as well. I knew I had to use my time efficiently, something that will come in useful in college. These challenges have helped me to become a fierce, focused, and hard working competitor. Recently, The United States Tennis Association Intermountain Section (Montana, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho) recognized me for my motivation on and off the court and nominated me for the Intermountain Section's only annual award given to a junior player, the "Nikos Ridle Junior Player of the Year,"(This award is given annually to a junior tennis player within the Intermountain Section who exemplifies the spirit of tennis through their activities on and off the court) and I was the section's 2009 nominee for the USTA "Bill Talbert National Sportsmanship Award." As challenging as training for competitive tennis is in Wyoming I still love to encourage kids to play the sport. Earlier this year, the Director of Tennis in Wyoming, Dave Boon, and I started the first Quickstart Tennis Program on a military base in the country. Every Thursday I teach tennis to kids at the Boy's and Girl's Program. To help a kid enter the world of a sport they will learn to love is why I give back to the tennis community. I remember the first time I chose to play tennis. I was watching two professionals rally on television. I never thought my attention span would last as long as it did when I watched the two pros rally the ball; the fight and focus each competitor had in him to hit the ball where he wanted for every ball was awe- inspiring. When I saw that on television I said, "Wow, I want to be just like that." No matter how windy, cold, or lonely it is to play in such a rural area, I will never let any obstacle keep me from my goals. One top goal is to attend an excellent academic college; I would relish the opportunity to attend such a school and to be a part of their tennis team.