On our nation's birthday today, it just seems appropriate to share with you a personal story of a young girl, her family and the great American dream.
In 1995, I was working for an international sports firm in the Midwest. On several occasions, I would travel to Florida to work on several ongoing projects. One such project took me to one of our properties, the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. As many of you may know, Bollettieri's is a training ground for some of the greatest tennis players that have ever played the sport. However, since the mid-90s, Bollettieri's has morphed into a much grander sports academy complete with dormitories, classrooms, family housing, golf courses, gymnasiums, fields, etc that now caters to all competitive sports. To say that Bollettieri's is a tremendous success is a huge understatement. Gifted kids from all over the world go to Bollettieri's for one reason, to make it big time in their chosen sport. I'm going to tell you about one of their graduates. Only in America could this happen.
I was meeting with the Director of the Facility one day in the center of the campus next to the tennis courts. All the while, I was mesmerized by this tall skinny blond girl who was pounding tennis balls within full view of where I was sitting. Ball after ball after ball. See couldn't have been more than 10 years old. She spoke a language of which I was unfamiliar. I asked someone who the young girl was. He didn't know her name but he thought she was from Russia.
As the months and years passed, I would return to Bollettieri's on a regular basis. Several times I would observe from afar this same young Russian girl mentioned above hitting balls on the tennis court. Always hitting balls...hard with purpose...in the hot Florida sun. One time I asked her instructor about the girl. Here's the story that was told to me.
In 1995, the first year I saw her hit balls, this young 8 year old Russian girl and her father, Yury, emigrated to the USA, looking for opportunity. Neither one spoke English and had $700 in their pockets. Somehow they landed at the doorstep of Nick Bollettieri. The young girl was a tennis player. Albeit young tennis player but a very good one for her age. She was raw and shy. Bollettieri took her in and gave her Dad a job as a dish washer in the cafeteria. For the next several years, Bollettieri paid for all her expenses while Yury worked odd jobs. Eventually, her mother, would secure a visa to join them in Florida. While honing her skills on the courts for hours a day, she also became proficient in learning her new adopted language, English. She took a high school course load and graduated. Nine years later, this young Russian immigrant, won the Ladies Final at Wimbledon in 2004 at age 17. Her name, Maria Sharapova. In front of the whole world, she gave a polished victory speech in perfect English from Centre Court. Nick Bollettieri and Yury were crying in her courtside box. I was crying in my tv room at home.
Maria's story is what America is all about. Risk. Hope. Faith. Freedom. Hard work. Opportunity. Reward. Gratitude. And a bit of luck along the way. Notwithstanding our current governmental ineptitude and economic malaise, America remains a beacon to those around the globe who aspire for a greater life, much like Maria and Yury. As Ronald Reagan said so eloquently in 1984, "America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere."
On this 4th of July let us celebrate our freedom, not take it for granted and thank God for those enlightened and inspired men who made it all possible. We are all beneficiaries of their courage and genius.
God bless America.
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