Playing for the Win: Junior Blake Eason realizes his commitment to tennis

According to Varsity tennis player and junior Blake Eason, sometimes to get back up you have to hit rock bottom.  

Eason hit his low point after losing match after match this summer.  In one of those, he lost his 4-1 lead after his opponent tied the game.  After losing the tiebreaker round, Eason decided he was done. Done with the sport he had been playing since he was four. 

“With everything that I had put in, it just felt like God was screwing me over,” Eason said. “Quitting during a tennis match is like the ultimate offense. On the way home, [I  thought] what did I do?”

But Eason’s decision to quit wasn’t well-received by his coach, Elliot McDermed, much less his parents.  His parents told him he had to make a decision — he was either going to play tennis or never play again.  

“I just said, you are going to have to decide if you are going to continue to put in the time and effort,” Blake’s mom, Sarah Eason said.  

McDermed refused to let Eason quit — he expected him to be at practice the next day ready to work just as hard as before.  

Eason made the choice to learn from his mistake and continue lugging his 20-pound tennis bag and four rackets to practice every day. After Eason returned to practice he realized his passion for tennis by remembering the feeling he gets when he plays and all of the lessons he has learned. 

Eason still remembers a basic lesson from his coach that he will use his entire life.  McDermed told Eason that how he acts on the court will reflect how he deals with stress later on in life.  He has used these lessons when dealing with stress from school and balancing everything. These lessons have affected Eason’s view of the sport.

“It’s not just about winning or losing,” Eason said.  “It’s about dealing with accountability stress and hard work… I want to learn life lessons”

Eason resumed his weekly training schedule of 20+ hours on the court with four additional hours in the weight room lifting.

According to Eason’s Mom, he misses out on a lot because of his commitment to tennis. 

“[He spends] 2 to 6 p.m. every day on the court and then he works out in the morning,” Mrs. Eason said. “He gives up a lot of social time for it.  It is really difficult.”

Part of the reason Eason tried to quit was the difficulty and amount of effort he had to put in.  However, despite quitting the sport for a few hours, Eason wouldn’t take the experience of quitting back because now he knows that he will never do it again and is happy he was able to learn from his choices.  

The experience reminded Eason of the three times he had received the same major injury — a growth plate filled with fluid.  Each time Eason has had to go through six months of physical therapy, but it never affected his love for the sport. 

“[His injuries] kept him out of the game on and off,” McDermed said.  “He didn’t give up…He worked hard on his rehabilitation and getting stronger and that has all paid off.”

While tennis is one of Eason’s main priorities, school will always come first.  Eason doesn’t allow himself to stay and practice past 6 p.m. because any time after that is his designated homework time for CAT and Physics. 

Eason wants to play tennis in college, but he wants to make sure that the school he picks values grades. Eason wants to go to a strong academic school with a competitive Division 3 tennis program.  He is aiming for some of the top 25 Division 3.

“There are a lot of good D1 schools but I think the focus of those schools is tennis first and school second and that isn’t who I am,” Eason said.  

After going back to practice, Eason has learned a new tactic for staying focused on the game — focusing on the ball. It helps him remain centered more on himself and how he is playing as opposed to beating his opponent.  

“His positive attitude and his dedication to his improvement, both really set him apart,”  McDermed said.