Written Communication

Written Communication: Introductory Reflection

The argumentative research essay, assignment five, is my favorite paper from this class. I enjoyed writing this essay for two reasons. One, I had practice with four previous assignments so I felt prepared to write a well-written paper. I had learned to guide the reader with connections from sentence to sentence, and paragraph to paragraph, vary my word choice, and vary sentence structure. The most helpful aspect in writing my paper was learning to look at it through the eyes of my audience and ask myself, “Will this make sense to my audience,” and “Have I guided the reader through the paper?” By learning and using these techniques, I think I wrote a nice paper, and I feel that I can communicate to any audience through writing.

The second reason I enjoyed this assignment is that Tennis is an activity I love, so obviously researching it and writing about it came easy to me. I learned that when choosing a topic to write about or make an argument for, that topic definitely needs to be something the writer is passionate towards. So, as you read “Step by Step” I hope that you see my improved writing and learn a little about helping the North High tennis team.

Step by Step

The girl’s tennis team at North High School in Des Moines, Iowa has had many losing seasons; the previous four being seasons that I personally experienced. Tennis is a sport that takes money, time, and resources to be able to improve. Many would say that a school like North (where the same students spread themselves thin to play all of the different sports, money is hard to come by, and tennis resources are limited) has a slim chance of improving on anything. But, in my opinion, I think that if small changes were made, the girl’s tennis team could improve drastically, thus giving the girls on the team something to be motivated about and simultaneously inspiring them to work hard. With something to be motivated about and to work hard for, the members of the team would not only experience the successes of tennis, but also learn that trying your hardest at everything in life will bring success.

A couple of popular arguments against North High School’s ability to improve; they do not have enough money (the school or individual players) and they do not have enough resources to do what it takes to build a competitive tennis team. In all honesty, these are logical arguments that a lot of people would stand by. Many of the students at North are from low-income, single parent homes, where they themselves need to work to help support their family. Also, the students who are able to be involved in extra curricular activities are usually involved in different sports all year long, leaving little time to practice year-round for tennis. I recognize these obstacles as I was submersed in them for four years. Therefore I am not making the argument that the North tennis team will be number one in the state, but that with small, realistic changes, the tennis team can improve.

As I looked through numerous books and websites and from my past knowledge from playing tennis, a common theme is that improving in tennis takes time, as in year round play, which means paying for indoor courts and lessons. During the summer and fall, the outdoor courts North uses in the spring would be great for once weekly, off season practices. But since the winter season is so long in Des Moines, the need for indoor courts arises. The Des Moines Golf and Country Club offers tennis lessons and indoor courts to its members, but it would be too expensive for most of the players on the North team to pay for a membership (dmgcc.org). So, another option that fits North’s situation better would be to get a membership to Aspen Athletic Club on Hickman. Aspen on Hickman boasts a nine court, indoor facility for tennis (Aspenathletic.com). Membership would be about $25 per month per player (Aspenathletic.com). The girls would need a place to play for four months (November, December, January, and February), adding up to $100 per player. Players could meet maybe once per week (or however many times they can) so as to not interfere with other sports the team members are playing during the tennis off season. As I said, many books and websites and my personal experience all agree that just keeping your racket swinging at least a little throughout the year will improve any tennis game.

Tennis is an expensive sport; a player needs lessons, money to rent indoor courts, rackets, gear, etc. There are numerous types of fundraising that can be done to raise money for a sport. Fundraising.com has many ideas for raising money, two of which grabbed my attention. The first money raising idea that stuck out to me was a magazine fundraiser that is done through e-mail. The team members would send out e-mails asking friends, family, and teachers to buy magazines and then get 40% of the profit back to pay for courts, gear, or whatever they might need (Fundraising.com). Also, the magazines are offered at a low price to the people who are being asked to buy them so then the potential customers are more likely to support the tennis team by buying a subscription to a magazine. The second fundraiser is a box of 52 chocolate bars that are sold for one dollar each (Fundraising.com). This would be easy for the tennis players to sell- during the school day other students would buy the chocolate up fast. As an example, if the entire team sold only 20 boxes, earning 45% profit, they could earn an easy $468 that could be used to pay for most of the Aspen membership during the winter. With these fundraisers, the tennis team could generate enough money to use indoor courts and replace any needed gear, but they would still need some help with lessons and technique.

While there aren’t many physical resources for North (instructors who give lessons) there are other types of instructional resources such as books and websites. I read through several of these books and websites that have success tips and skill improving drills for tennis to try and figure out if any were “do-able” for North. One book, 228 Tennis Tips, offers such advice with drills and tricks for tennis that I think would be useful for North. My idea is that the North tennis coach and players could use resources like this to have new, fun ways of leading practice that would improve the team’s tennis skills. These drills and techniques could be used at normal practices in the spring and at once weekly practices throughout the rest of the year. For even more help, the team could hire a successful tennis player and North High Alumni, JR Kappelman, who would give tennis lessons to North for $20 per hour (it would be less if he did a clinic for all of the girls at once).This is definitely a great resource and while it’s probably not realistic all year long, they could hire Kappelman a few times just to get them going.

Through my prior experience with North and the new knowledge I have obtained through research, I feel that North could truly improve in tennis by using the methods in this paper. So, while North is limited on the resources tennis requires, they can find ways to get better. With the step by step processes listed above, I think that the tennis team and its members will not only gain skills for tennis, but also gain a view on life that success is possible in all areas.

Works Cited:

Aspen. Aspen Athletic Clubs. 21 April 2008.
<http://aspenathletic.com/pages/tennis.html>.
Des Moines Golf & Country Club. Dmgcc.org. 2006 Des Moines Golf and Country Club.
21 April 2008. <http://www.dmgcc.org/>.
Fundraising.com Inc. Fundraising.com. 1996-2007. 21 April 2008.
<http://www.fundraising.com/>.
Kappelman, J.R. Telephone interview. 12 April 2008.
Laver, Rod. 228 Tennis Tips. Chicago: Follet Publishing Company.