Tennis & Life Camps

Author: nhagberg

  • The Damage You Can Do By Not Practicing The Three Crowns

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    nhagberg

    This photo is funny. My situation, unfortunately, is not. After 35 years of hearing and preaching about the TLC Three Crowns of positive attitude, full effort, and good sportsmanship, I recently, in the heat of the moment, called out my friend and teammate for not doing something I thought he should do.  I did it…

  • The Balancing Act, On And Off The Court

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    nhagberg

    I have found on the tennis court that when I am off balance, everything tends to go wrong. Fast. If I lunge at a volley unnecessarily instead of moving smoothly through, I cannot recover in time for the next shot and am often short footed when my opponent hits behind me on the next volley.…

  • The One And Only Job Of An Athlete’s Parent

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    nhagberg

    My daughter is almost 17 now. One more year and she’s out of the nest. I’m feeling nostalgic. Steve Wilkinson gave me one of the greatest gifts in advice on how to raise her, because I heard the same advice every summer.   At Tennis & Life Camps, Steve would tell all parents their only job…

  • It Takes a Village – In Honor of Steve Wilkinson

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    nhagberg

    One year ago today, Steve died. I have spent the year in mourning. And talking to him. And hearing him answer me back. On the opening night of last weekend’s TLC Winter Retreat Camp, I spoke with the kids about my friendship with Steve and how the mission of TLC continues on through all of…

  • Why–For One Sunday–The Vikings Reminded Me of TLC

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    nhagberg

    I played college football at Gustavus.  Quarterback.  I was just good enough to have the opposing team believe they were never out of it as long as I was in the game.  And I was, on at least one occasion, voted – I’m sure of this – the opposing team’s MVP for the day. (That…

  • What Do You Do In The New Year When The Three Crowns Don’t Work?

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    nhagberg

    You’re going to fail this year. Oh, Happy New Year from TLC! Guess what? Everyone else you know is also going to fail. You are going to practice the Three Crowns of attitude, effort, and sportsmanship. And sometimes you are going to fall on your face. Sometimes literally. So why even bother getting back up?…

  • The Three Crowns, The Holiday Season, and Conquering Fear

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    nhagberg

    Dear Tennis & Life Friends, Tennis & Life Camps’ campers are a wide cross section of Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives, Independents and Libertarians. Muslims.  And Jews.  And Christians.  And atheists.  Buddhists and Hindus.  Agnostics.  People who identify themselves as spiritual but not affiliated with a religion.  And every color of the rainbow. On…

  • Thankful for the Pain?

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    nhagberg

    Can we be thankful for the pain in our lives? Last week, our swimmer daughter, Madeline, found out she might be pulled from her relay team (which she had swam on all year) and replaced by a teammate, literally the day before section finals.  This was a relay team destined for state and a Minneapolis…

  • The Gift of the Double Bagel

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    nhagberg

    I love to win. And I have sometimes done things in my life in order to win that I am not proud of. That is for a future blog. But it is the background information you should know for this one. Monday night, my doubles partner and I were the deciding point in our USTA…

  • One Point Said It All

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    nhagberg

    The Minnesota State High School Girls Tennis Tournament just ended last week.  83 TLC girls were in it.  5 out of 6 individual champions were TLCers. These girls are my heroes.  But not for the reason I would have stated when I was younger. Watching them play, I now know what is possible. I watched…