By Christine Staudinger Ezra, USTA.com
| By Christine Staudinger Ezra | | | | If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for an upcoming "Player Spotlight" column, e-mail us at WebResponse@USTA.com. Please include the nominee's name, age, state, contact information (e-mail and phone number) and a brief paragraph on why you think they deserve to be featured. Please note: We can only respond to those whom we decide to include in the column. | |
Matthew Levine
Age: 17
Residence: Dix Hills, NY
High school: Commack High School, NY
Favorite TV Show: “I don’t have time to watch TV.”
Pet: Daley, a Welsh Terrier
Hobbies: “Mostly just hanging out with friends.”
Girlfriend: “Not any more.”
Favorite Fruit: Orange
“Tennis is definitely something I’ll stick with forever, carry with me forever. It’s a life sport.”
When interviewing a teenage tennis player, I can never be sure what I’m going to hear on the other end of the phone. Will the interviewee go above and beyond the dreaded one-word answers? Will his or her story impress anyone besides peers and family members? Is there room for originality when it feels like we’ve seen and heard it all?
Seventeen-year-old Matthew Levine offered a pleasant surprise on so many levels. Articulate? Check. Impressive? Check. Original? Absolutely. The Dix Hills, NY, resident may only be a senior at the Commack High School on Long Island, but he's accomplished feats some of us only contemplate. Everything he’s achieved is fueled by his self-motivation, a desire to be above average, and the compassion to help others.
Captain of his varsity tennis team for the second year in a row, valedictorian of his graduating class and founder of S.C.O.R.E., a program Matt started to teach mentally and physically handicapped adults how to play tennis. Nope, he’s certainly not your average teen. Take a look into the mind of this young leader. It’s quite refreshing.
Planting the Seed
There are just a few things Matt makes room for in his busy schedule these days. School, tennis, the S.C.O.R.E. program, and . . . flying tomatoes? That’s right, the athlete made sure to catch his favorite Olympic event, snowboarding halfpipe, and watched as American Shaun White, A.K.A. the “Flying Tomato” took the gold medal. “It was fun to watch. He’s only like three years older than me!” Matt exclaimed.
The Olympics are a treat for Matt, who normally isn’t sitting around watching TV. “I just don’t have time,” he said. What? A teenager that’s actually too busy to watch television? Hard to believe, but true. He can thank his parents for this. After all, they were the ones who put him on the tennis court as soon as he was big enough to hold a racquet, introducing him to the sport at such a young age that he never had time to consider the pros and cons of being a couch potato.
It was actually a family affair. His father, Frank, would play on one court with Matt’s two older brothers—Jason, seven years his senior, and Jonathon, four years older than Matt—while his mom, Lori, took the baby of the family to another court to see if the youngster could make contact with the ball.
Well, apparently he could, because Matt hasn’t put the racquet down since. Ten years ago he began taking lessons at the local Deer Park Tennis & Fitness Center, and is now into his sixth year of instruction with tennis pro Afzal Ali. Each week he benefits from a two-hour group lesson and an hour of private instruction at the club. He also competes in the club’s ladder league, practices with the high school girl’s tennis team during the fall and hits with other top teenage opponents from the area at the club.
With spring just around the corner, Matt is busier than ever prepping for his high school tennis season, set to start in three weeks, assuming, that is, that New York doesn’t get hit with another 20 inches of snow. It will be his fourth year on varsity, all under the direction of Coach Jacqueline Clark, who doubles as a guidance counselor at Commack High School. Coach Clark also happens to be the one who nominated Matt for this column, but it wasn’t a hard sell. His accomplishments speak for themselves.
Much of Matt’s inspiration to succeed comes from his genuine love of tennis. “I’m very heavy with academics and extracurricular activities, so tennis is my escape,” said Matt. “It’s how I get rid of anything that’s bothering me. If I’m angry, sad, I let it all out on the tennis court. I can step off the court and feel completely refreshed.”
Tennis also had an invaluable effect on his mental and emotional health. “When I started playing the game, I was a head case. I was a nut. I would scream and come off the court crying,” he stated, which was shocking to hear from the very even-keeled Matt I spoke with.
“Once I started playing for the high school team, I really calmed down and learned how to keep my emotions in check. I figured out that tennis—as much as I love playing the game and love the competition—it’s still just a game. Even though it’s emotional playing a 15-minute rally only to hit the ball in the net, it taught me to put any intense, damaging emotions behind me. Learn from them, but don’t dwell on them. Now I can do that off the court as well.”
Coach Clark also witnessed these changes within Matt. “When he made the team freshman year, he was always very hard on himself. He has such a tremendous work ethic in every aspect of life, and on the court he really works harder than most players. But he wasn’t always getting the results he expected,” she said. “As time went on, Matt really learned how to use that energy in a more positive way and to control his emotions. Needless to say, I am extremely proud of him.”
Matt also learned a thing or two from his older brothers. The oldest, Jason, graduated from M.I.T., while Jonathon is attending Stanford. “They’re so successful,” Matt said. “They accomplish, from what I can see, almost everything they set out to do, and they do it with a smile on their face and the support of their friends.”
With a desire to live up to the high standards his sibling idols set, Matt searched for a way to make his own mark on society.
Keeping S.C.O.R.E.
Matt’s big idea came to him his sophomore year. He’d been playing competitive tennis for a few years at that point, and his desire to give back to the community in some form was causing the wheels to turn. But high school also meant Matt was getting bogged down with schoolwork, and his free time was increasingly spent laboring over his academics.
“I wasn’t playing competitively as much as I used to, but I still wanted to be on the courts. The courts are an escape for me, whether I’m playing or teaching,” Matt explained. Once again, he looked to his older brothers for inspiration. Matt remembered that Jonathon had worked with mentally and physically handicapped people, and channeled his thoughts in that direction. “I emulate my older brothers so, go figure. I thought, 'I’m good at tennis; tennis is my passion; why not do something I enjoy?' And the S.C.O.R.E. program resulted.”
Matt’s premise wasn’t complicated. He wanted to teach tennis to a group of mentally and physically handicapped people that might not otherwise ever step foot on the courts. His goal was to share all the positive benefits of tennis with people who could use a bright spot in their lives. The program’s name, S.C.O.R.E., stands for Student Caring Offers Recreational Excellence.
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| POTW Matthew Levine |
But coming up with the concept was only half the battle. Matt then had to find a way to breathe life into his brainchild. “My mom was definitely my biggest supporter, and Coach Clark told me if I could get the program going, she’d try to get other tennis players at the school to help out. But getting it started was on me.”
While Coach Clark was one of Matt’s biggest supporters, even she had her doubts if a student with so much on his plate already could pull it off. “When Matt spoke about starting S.C.O.R.E., I thought it was an amazing idea, but wasn’t sure if he would really be able to do it with his academics, tennis and other extracurricular activities,” she commented. “But when Matt is determined to do something, he labors over it with love, and that is exactly what he did.”
Matt began approaching various group homes in the area, proposing his idea to the administrators and their clients. But no one bit. Determined to see his plan through, Matt continued networking, and eventually found a connection. A family friend’s son was living at a local group home, the Stoothoff House, and he convinced six of the group home’s members to give tennis a shot.
With willing participants, Matt then got the Deer Park Tennis Club to donate an indoor court for one hour every Sunday. An employee from the home agreed to drive the participants the 20 minutes to the club.
He also had an immediate helper on hand, Mark Broomfield. A year younger than Matt, Mark volunteered right off the bat. “He didn’t hesitate at all,” Matt said. “Now he enjoys it more than me, if that’s even possible. He looks forward to it every day.”
Once all the pieces fell into place, Matt just had one thing left to do -- teach the participants how to play his favorite sport.
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