Jordan Belga blog: Coaching is a burning passion for me

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July 6, 2018 02:41 PM

Jordan Belga is a recent graduate of the University of Florida, where he received his B.S in Sport Management along with a minor in Business Administration. Belga has been involved in tennis for 13 years and was a star junior player, with highlights that included being ranked No. 1 in the Boys' 12s and representing the U.S. in the World Junior Team Tennis competition in the Czech Republic. In college, he competed for the Florida Gators and helped lead the men's team to the SEC Tournament championship. Belga has received a coaching fellowship with USTA Player Development and will be writing a blog from the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., about his experiences this summer. In his first entry, he writes about what led him to coaching tennis.

By Jordan Belga

Hey, everyone! I am very excited to be writing my blogs during my time with Player Development for the summer and hope to keep you guys updated every week! The first blog I was asked to write is, “What led you to coaching tennis?”

I started getting involved in coaching tennis when I was 16 years old. I was training in Delray Beach with coaches Tarik Benhabiles and Salim Zouadi at the time. We had a large group of players of all different ages. Tarik went away with a group of older players to travel and play some Futures tournaments for a couple months. Unfortunately for Salim, there was a large amount of younger players, and he could not run the group all by himself. While I was fitting in my training, Salim asked me to help him out, and I put in extra time to coach the younger players. I started to quickly learn how to develop myself as a coach, and it became a burning passion for me. I would have to say it’s a combination of my passion of wanting to help others and my love for the game of tennis.

As a player, I always had a respect for all the coaches that have played a part in my development. All of those coaches have also played an influential role in the way I try to coach. To me, coaching is another opportunity to use that platform to make a difference in someone’s life. In this case, it just happens to be in the realm of tennis.

I also enjoy the process of improving and developing, which is also one of the biggest motivators that led me to coaching. Not only do I want to improve myself as a coach, but I also love to see players grow and go through the process. Sometimes it can be very easy to get caught up in the results and lose sight of the bigger picture. Don’t get me wrong, winning and losing are certainly an important factor in developing into a fierce competitor. However, it should not be the constant focus or center of attention. You cannot always control the outcome, but you can control the work that is put in to reach your desired outcome.   

Thank you for reading. I have just finished my second week of the fellowship program here in Orlando and look forward to traveling out in a couple weeks. Stay tuned in for my blog next week!

Jordan Belga

 

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