b'Ronald briefly took the worst direction when at age 17 he robbed the HEB TennisIn tennis, forgiveness and the idea of the second chance are essential Center pro shop, holding a gun on an employee he knew in an act of betray- values to the process of learning and improving. For 17-year-old Ron-al, during a moment that could only be described as temporary insanity. Theald Elizondo, sitting in jail more than three decades ago, his experience hopelessness of his home life coupled with the conditioned impulse to takeof forgiveness by the tennis community whom criminal advantage of the privileged world that had accepted him, togeth- he had wronged would permanently change er overwhelmed the inner voice that was screaming at him the differencehis heart and his life from that point, forward. between right and wrongbut he did it anyway. Just as devastated andSpeaking to him while in custody, Susan Tor-disappointed as Ronald was in himself were Coaches Torrance and Mapes,rance said, God gave you a gift. He gave you along with an entire community of tennis players and parents who sawtennis. He didnt give it to you to be the best in him not only tennis talent, but the good soul of a young man who wastennisplayerinjail.Perhapsunbeknown born not into one of lifes advantages. To that point, Ronald had beento him at the time, the tennis family that had em-saved from jail or worse by the pride he experienced with every on-courtbraced him as a 12-year-old on a bike was, in fact, the accomplishment, even if he didnt realize it at the time. family that loved him most, and to whom his downfall hurt Theres a reason why serious tennis players are a different breed of cat,the most. Having considered all the facts of Ronalds case and and its a simple one: Its hard as hell! Every one of us who were intro- his background, and maybe and especially the words of several duced to the sport by watching professionals play on television hadesteemed members of the community, the court took the chance of no real comprehension of how difficult it was, until we tried it our- giving him a lenient sentence and a second chanceand it worked.selves. Not too many of us started with professional coaching, may- Within a short time, Ronald was employed as a teaching profession-be lots of amateur coaching from parents, friends, or siblings, andal, earning a living teaching kids whose parents could afford coach-a few just watched TV and tried to duplicate what they saw whileing, but not seeing too many youngsters like he was, years before. hitting against a wallthe danger in the 80s being the kid whoWorking outside his duties as a paid coach, Ronald recruited the also mocked temper tantrums, the chucking of rackets, andfirst two dozen elementary and middle school students from cursing at passers-by, all that they also saw on tennis TV.the citys toughest neighborhoods, those conveniently locat-As entertaining as it all was, I think most of us old birdsed close to the two City tennis centers, HEB and Al Kruse. agree that the Bad Boy antics of the era were best leftAfter-school and summer programs emerged and grew, as as a show at Wimbledon, and not as accept- more city kids and their friends and siblings became inter-able on the courts of your nearby junior high. ested in tennis. The coaching was free and Ronald recruit-The never-ending journey of gradual accomplishment in which junior tennis playersed other volunteer coaches and organizers, and found donations of rackets, shoes, live is more enduring than for the task of improving ones skills, as it is the develop- tennis balls, and of course the funds needed to grow the as-yet unnamed program.ment of character traits shared by so many successful adults. The first is humility.Ronalds effort became Tennis Success, Inc., having earned the support of prominent It is said that if we cannot be honest with ourselves, then we cannot be honest withmembers of Corpus Christis tennis community. Within a short time, hundreds of anyone. Self-criticism and the strength to apply it and endure it, and most important- kids were participating, a tutoring program had been established, grants were being ly to improve in response to it, is core to becoming a tennis playerit is also core toearned from across the country, and in 2014, Tennis Success was awarded the United succeeding at almost anything in life. If you miss a forehand because you were on theStates Tennis Association National Junior Chapter of the Year, Ronald saying, Ten-wrong foot, for example, you must be honest enough to admit it to yourself, and fix it. nis has saved my life, and is saving a lot of other kids lives because of this program.Below/Left: Ronald and Teresa Elizondo accepting the USTA National Junior Tennis and Education Chapter Award in 2014 on behalf of Tennis Success, Inc., the grassroots program he founded in 2000; Below/Center & Right: Tennis Success executive director Cher-ri Pea (center), board president Raul Muoz (far left), and program participants receiving the 2025 USTA Texas NJTL Impact Award.TheCoastalBend.com THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE93'