Andrew Medrano

Ms. Carvalho

Speech 1

Cultural Artifact Speech

I.          Introduction

1.      I am going to hit a tennis ball in the air introducing myself and the sport.

2.      I am going to talk about my career in tennis, how big apart of my life it is and how grueling a sport it is not only physically but mentally as well.

3.      Since it is a single player sport it is only you or the person on the other side of the net who will get injured and fatigued.

4.      In a major tournament it is like 2 heavyweight boxers going at it for at least 3 sets which is around 3 and a half hours.

II.         Body

1.      As I said earlier tennis is a big part of my life.

i.                     I started playing around 7 years old when my parents signed me up at a park league.

ii.                   Then I stopped altogether till my freshmen year of high school.

iii.                  Altogether I played 4 years, 3 years varsity and 2 years varsity #1.

iv.                 I am really proud of this because I came to high school as one of the worst players on the team and I was never coached or had lessons of any sort, except for my dad.

v.                   After high school I was lucky enough to be asked to coach my former teammates, and I am also proud to say we won our league that year in 2003, a feat which had not been accomplished in 7 years, and lost just one league match.

vi.                 Now I’m here for L.A. at Reedley College playing tennis

2.      I knew how hard mentally the sport was but never having been coached except for a few crappy ones in high school I didn’t know how hard it was physically.

i.                     My practice schedule is 3 and a half hours a day Monday through Thursday and 3 -5 hours on Saturdays.

ii.                   Since tennis is an individual sport you never get a break to rest.

iii.                  If you get hurt and you can no longer play on then you forfeit the match.

iv.                 If you start to lose points and you get down on yourself your opponent will notice this and take advantage of it.

v.                   You also never want to throw your racket, it is usually the ultimate sign of frustration.

vi.                 The mental breakdown of a player is usually what equates to hi or her downfall.

III.       Conclusion

1.      In conclusion, I’ve told you a little about myself and my culture of tennis players and a little of what goes on in the mind of some of us.

2.      I am going to play a tape at the end.