(photo obtained from the Skidmore athletics website)
Starting tennis at the age of five, Lily Feldman ‘22 has always considered the sport a big part of her life. She was initially introduced to it after becoming obsessed with playing Wii tennis and further fell in love after watching her first professional tennis match on TV and seeing her favorite tennis player, Maria Sharapova, playing in her signature pink dress. Feldman’s parents enrolled her in tennis, and she’s loved it ever since. Now a junior on the Skidmore’s women’s tennis team, Feldman reflects on her experience with the sport and on playing during a pandemic.
Although a big part of her life, Feldman didn’t enjoy playing tennis until she was in college. For her, the most challenging part of growing up playing tennis was the team dynamics, and not so much the sport itself. “Playing an individual sport when you're younger was very difficult to make friends because everyone plays like your competitor and are intense; you don't really have a team supporting you until college tennis.”
Feldman recounts how her freshman fall semester of college was a massive adjustment. The tennis team traveled often for competitions on the weekends and sometimes on weekdays. “As lame as it sounds, it was really stressful for me because I do care a lot about my academics. And professors weren't always understanding. I hated disappointing them because I’m a student who never really misses class. So it took me that semester to really get used to balancing it, realizing, and understanding that this is a commitment I've made.”
The double International Affairs and Environmental Studies major eventually was able to find the balance of school and sports and realized she had to manage her time well to be her best in the classroom and on the court. “Trying to be a little more proactive about my work forced me to have more communication with my professors, which was good. I thought it was a great way to have them understand me a little better in terms of my work ethic and everything.”
This work ethic extends to the court as well. Her freshman year (2018), Feldman became an asset to the team, leading all Skidmore freshmen in singles victories and ended with a perfect 11-0 in conference matches. She earned Liberty League Rookie of the Week, made the All-Liberty League Second Team Singles team, and made Thoroughbred Society. This season she’s already earned an Honor Roll mention for her match against William Smith.
When asked what it feels like to get recognized by the League and earning Honor Roll mention, Feldman responded, “it's never anything you expect, and it’s not necessarily something I'm like working towards, but it's nice to get recognized by the conference just because there are so many talented players in it. And it's nice to see that they are looking at results. And it's a good recognition just to see the Skidmore name for our team as well.”
Feldman explains that, like many athletes, it was one of the first full competitive matches she’s played in over a year due to the pandemic. And even though it was a little tricky getting back into it, playing tennis was a great stress reliever for her. She mentions how the pandemic put everything into perspective for her, “I realized I shouldn't put as much pressure as I used to on my performance and results. The pandemic has made me realize to just relax; there are a lot more important things going on in the world.”
The women’s tennis team has a Liberty League win streak of 36 matches. Feldman shares that the team’s status doesn’t matter when going into a game, and in fact, the team always gets nervous. “We could be the worst team in the conference or the best; we go into every match with the same mentality that we want to win. When we step on the court, we're like, we're good for a reason. We work super hard. There's nothing to worry about. And again, there are six of us playing at all times. We have trusted each other, and we practice every day, and we're all super close.”
She continues, “obviously, our goal every year is to win Liberty Leagues and do well in order to do well in the NCAA championship. I think our heads kind of automatically jump to playing, and we just assume we're going to win, which I think works in our case because we're not worried about not winning, if that makes sense.”
This doesn’t mean that Feldman doesn’t experience pre-match anxiety, but she doesn’t let that stop her from doing her best. “I've been doing this for such a long time, and it's muscle memory. There's a certain point where like tightness really isn't a thing at the beginning. I have confidence in my game and myself and my mentality. I think I'm a pretty mentally strong player and know that you just have to go out there and play your best.”
Feldman further explains that she likes college tennis better because it feels like a team sport. “If your opponent has a great match that day, no one's going to get mad at you, and it’s not necessarily like my match, or one person's match is going to make the complete outcome of the entire team. That's why I like college tennis a lot better, because it's a team, whereas in juniors it's just if you lose it’s like your daughter and you made that trip for nothing, but now, there are not that many consequences.”
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Feldman has some personal and team goals to work towards. Team-wise, she hopes they advance and get the chance to play in NCAAs, which the team missed because of their season being cut short last spring. For personal goals, Feldman wants to not just think of the results and to be consistent and make sure she is a good team leader and encouraging her teammates. “I just want to make sure that people know I’m a person they can go to for support.”
Overall, she has had a lot of fun with her teammates and she appreciates how the sport is something she can grow old with. “I sometimes see when we practice indoors at the YMCA an older group of women playing, and I just smile. I'm like, this is what I'm working toward. It's a great sport to get to know other people, to be competitive, and just to stay active. And I appreciate all those elements. That's what keeps me happy.”