Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/510478
30 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m all the electronics, and they also have options in other sports. I'm not saying that kids need to be in a single sport from a young age on, but I think we need to make them learn how to love tennis and want to play it all the time." In 1975, when Adams was a six-year-old in Chicago, she watched Arthur Ashe defeat Jimmy Connors to win Wimble- don. She had already been playing some, but seeing an African American play her sport on television was a revelation. "At that age I didn't truly understand what professional tennis was, and I had no idea what playing in Wimbledon meant, but see- ing him there inspired me to want to continue playing," she says. Adams began playing in a summer program near her home. Her parents, James and Yvonne, were teaching summer school, so her older brothers looked out for her by taking her to the tennis program they participated in every day. For two weeks she stood outside the fence begging to play (she was three years too young) both because she was bored and because she felt she could play better than all the kids on the court (yes, the com- petitive gene shows early). "After I was persistent and annoying for a while, the coaches got permission from the club supervisor and from my parents to allow me to play," she says. "I fell in love with the game from day one, from the moment I hit the tennis ball." Needless to say, she dominated, beating many older kids. She was voted the program's most improved player. Adams moved up the competitive tennis ladder, frst in Chica- go, then regionally. She loved the game—and she loved to win. T E N N I S E V E R Y O N E ?