The Man Behind the Racquet
Picture this…
3:30 am: Wake up. Start working on your computer for Dunlop or K Swiss.
5:00 am: Go to the office, string racquets.
7:00 am: Play doubles match with your teammates/friends.
And so on…
Meet Steve Schultz, from the morning this man wakes up to the second his head hits the pillow he is go go go for tennis.
Steve eats, breathes, and plays tennis all day every day. From a young age, it has been his favorite thing to do and he is very good at it. He is currently the number one nationally ranked tennis player for men 55 and up. Not only does he play all day but he also works with tennis brands and coaches privately and at his local high school.
As his sweatshirt says in the photo to the left, “love the game”. Couldn’t be more true for Steve. There have been several ups and downs however he continues to be so passionate to this day for the game of tennis.
A couple of years ago Steve found out that he has a herniated disc in his spine. A condition that refers to a problem with a rubbery disc between the spinal bones. This resulted in pain in his arms and legs and sometimes making it difficult for him to exercise, meaning playing tennis. This has caused Steve to undergo surgery and take medication however to this day he still endures severe pain.
However, like his schedule before showed, this pain is nowhere near slowing down Steve from playing tennis.
When he started playing tennis as an 11-year-old boy little did he know that this was going to be a lifelong love of his. That he would go onto high school and have medals still hung up in La Quinta High School of his accomplishments.
Here is a video of Steve playing in 1977, with a friend, who he still gets to play with to this day. A lifelong love for tennis, lifelong friends, and lifelong memories.
Steve’s students who he coaches are impacted by his patience and skillset describing him as, “changes the game, he makes you see what you can be rather than where you started”. Steve gushes about the chance to start with young freshmen and be able to mold them into the tennis players he knows they can be.
Now knowing Steve, anyone would be lucky to share the passion that this man has. He is someone who truly gets to live his dreams and what he loves to do. Any athlete would be lucky to say the same about their sport, any artist about their art, any musician about their music. Something Steve can teach us all is to find what you love and are good at and follow it and chase it because that's what makes life worth living. Although there are tough days, at the end of the day if you can’t wait to wake up at 3 am to get started again, is it really worth it?