Yesterday I saw something in tennis I never expected.
A friend and I were playing at Walton Tennis Center at GT Bray Park in Bradenton on a windy day, so windy that the windscreen was blown off and we had to re-connect it with those tie things.
As our hour concluded, three guys came to take the court for their training session. As Steve and I picked up our belongings, we small chatted with the three players. They were on a trip to Florida and randomly picked GT Bray to train. I noticed the one guy’s racquets on the bench had been customized with a piece of masking tape on the the frame throat with a message: Greatest of all time.
I had to pick up the Wilson to inspect it closer… Greatest of all time. The guys chuckled when I mentioned the observation and added, “That’s the best positive self talk I ever saw. Humility gets you nowhere.”
It turns out the guys were from Howard University and were very nice and polite, Yes sirs, smiles, laughs, three likable young gentleman. The Greatest of all time was named Mitchell Yon, and he’s from Queens, NY, a sophomore at Howard with a professional looking, beautiful smooth backhand that stood out. The other guy was a fine player also named Marcel Dawson. Also there was assistant coach Zach Tobias.
Here’s Mitchell’s Howard University bio page:
Personal: Major is Sports Management… Chose Howard University to surround himself with people who look like him, which he believes is important for his development as an African American male… hails from Queens, NY… His hobbies include baking desserts, cooking dinner, listening to music, and reading autobiographies. He aspires to have a similar career to Arthur Ashe on the professional tennis tour… He believes his energetic presence on the tennis court, raw talent, athleticism, and fighting spirit make him unique as an athlete… He does not have a favorite professional sports team or a celebrity look-alike… He would like to be on a Gordon Ramsay reality show… Pre-game playlist includes “Dreams and Nightmares” by Meek Mill, “Fast” by Juice WRLD, and “Back Again” by King Von and Lil Durk Ft. Prince Dre.
High School: Achieved Honor and High Honor Roll from Freshman through Junior year. Athletic honors include being a 3x NYC PSAL Singles Champion (#1 Tennis Player in NYC high school tennis), 5x City Champion in NYC PSAL, and 2022 NYC PSAL MVP. He only lost one match throughout his four-year high school tennis career, despite COVID.
Yon is having a good season for Howard, which he said started in January. He won his last match on March 2 vs. Eastern Florida State’s Konstantin Kukaris at 6 singles 16 63 10-6. For the season, Yon’s record is 4-2 in singles and 1-1 in doubles.
Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Established in 1867, Howard is a nonsectarian institution located in the Shaw neighborhood. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in more than 120 programs and received an endowment of $1.0324 billion for 2024.
The institution was named for General Oliver Otis Howard, a Civil War hero who was both the founder of the university and, at the time, commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Howard later served as president of the university from 1869 to 1874.
Greatest of all time… I’m going to experiment with that positive self-talk message from now on whenever adversity strikes in a match. And think of that polite, positive young gentleman who visited our club at GT Bray Park. Thanks Mitchell!
Bradenton · Florida · GT Bray · Howard University · Mitchell Yon · Washington DC
