A valiant effort

Ettore Rossetti, Michale Empric of Guinness World Records and Angelo A. Rossetti on Saturday, August 8, 2015 at Weston Racquet Club in Weston, CT

This deserves your attention....and it's not what you think...

Save the Children's message is so important and deserves your attention

What is this World Coming To?

Nostradamus predicted that the world would end Friday, December 21. In my mind the world did end, at least as we know it, but one week early on Friday, December 14. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in my home state of Connecticut it really hit home for me.

Not only do I drive through the Newtown area twice a day in commuting to work but I have a 6 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. My wife and I are both employed as teachers. I am a tennis director and she teaches 6th grade math.

This tragedy hit very close to home with me. I know some of the impacted families and my heart goes out to every one of them.

Those twenty children and seven adults will have died in vain if we don’t change something in this world. Whether it’s gun control on semi-automatic weapons, discharging some of the best military personnel and placing them in every school under cover or revamping our health care system to identify and support the mentally ill more effectively, the world needs to be different as we know it.

Being an optimist, I see it as a new beginning. Whether we appreciate our children more, recognize our teachers better or respect our policeman and first responders, suffice is to say that our world has ended as we know it. The ancient Mayan "long count" calendar, carved in stone, which according to calculations ends on December 21, 2012, marks the end of a 5,126-year era, is where the primary reason for the world ending originated. I believe that the events of December 14th signify the beginning of the end of the world in which we knew it. We need to take active measures to make positive and productive change to the world in which we live starting now.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Newtown, CT community now and forever.

Stand for Something

My twin brother and I are huge X Factor fans. We were both extremely both moved and inspired by Jillian Jensen's your heartfelt performance on X Factor of Jessie J’s song “Who You Are.” It took an enormous amount of courage for Jillian to get to this point in her career. You see, Jillian was extremely bullied in middle school and high school. It started in 7th grade when she was offered drugs and did the right thing and reported him. After that she started to be bullied, being an easy target as she is so open with her music. She ended up inspiring the judges, the entire audience, the other contestants in the holding room, never mind the millions of viewers (over 8 million at the time of this post).

Then during the final elimination round before the "Live Shows" she was eliminated by Demi Lovato.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZAgJeeiSaI

So rather than just sit still my brother and I were inspired to create a petition:
http://www.causes.com/causes/798484-bring-back-jillian-jensen-back-to-the-x-factor-usa/actions/1694845

Jillian has a tattoo of the words "STAY STRONG".

Hopefully the petition helps FOX producers bring her back with a wild card.

Remember to stay focused on your dreams and they all will come true. No matter what happens from now on in the competition, wild card or not, rest assured that Jillian will have accomplished so much in the way of inspiring others, especially victims of bullying. Where your preparation, passion and performance meet is where "luck" happens. Hopefully Jillian will get "lucky" with another chance. Jillian sings from the heart and will win over so many people around the world. ).

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1693819/x-factor-jillian-jensen-demi-lovato.jhtml (online MTV news story)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmUL72dIbTA&feature=rellist&playnext=1&list=PLOSNEPWDY5YZDIA7DOFHCASL6Y0UGVNIM (the performance that changed it all and inspired millions)

Taking Pride in Something

When eight year old Olivia Wen was asked who her favorite tennis player is on stadium court immediately prior to the ladies semifinal match she was speechless. She wasn’t the only one speechless, as many of the hundreds who were watching the display of talent and ability of the 8 & under tennis players could only marvel at what they were seeing. Olivia Wen has a love for tennis. She trains at Weston Racquet Club at least three times per week with her fraternal twin sister Vivian and hits with her family on their home tennis court when she is not at the club.
But tennis isn’t her only passion. She plays the piano and ice skates. She is a well rounded individual who excels at everything she does. Just when the Wens thought it couldn’t get any better (they helped their club win the 8 & under state championship earlier this summer), it did. Not only was Olivia invited to participate in the first annual 8 & under invitational at the New Haven Open but also was invited to a 10 & under tennis demonstration at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York as part of the USTA National Teacher’s Conference.

It doesn’t come without hard work, dedication and discipline. “Olivia rarely misses a lesson, is always on time, but more importantly has a genuine love for the game and is a true example of sportsmanship,” stated Angelo A. Rossetti, her tennis coach and director of tennis at Ivan Lendl’s Weston Racquet Club. He likes to think that Weston is the capital of 8 & under tennis. A future goal for Olivia would be to make her high school tennis team, a team that has posted five straight class S titles and has a nationally ranked player playing in the number one spot. Some have said that high school tennis passes through Weston. Rossetti likes to think that 8 & under tennis goes through Weston as well. The new format of teaching and competing for children 10 years old and younger involves lower compression balls, smaller racquets and a smaller court. 10 and Under Tennis is a revolutionary change in the way kids learn and play tennis, as well as compete. Tennis is following the formula that the majority of youth sports have used for years - tailoring equipment and courts to a child’s size and age so that they develop skills and have fun right from the start. 10 and Under Tennis is structured for kids to learn tennis and rally and play quickly in a way that is both enjoyable and rewarding.

Tailoring equipment and courts so they are sized appropriately for kids makes the game more accessible—and more fun—by allowing kids to get involved right from the start. 10 and Under Tennis eliminates waiting in long lines to hit the ball and the frustration kids feel at not being able to rally. Kids will enjoy playing the game right away and will keep coming back for more, developing a lifelong passion and appreciation for tennis – also helping to grow tennis programs.

The invitational event included a flight of matches held indoors at the Yale Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. The top six total game winners advanced to play a singles and doubles match on stadium court side by side. These matches were announced by Wayne Bryan, the father of the #1 doubles team on the ATP Tour, Bob and Mike Bryan. He adds color commentary during matches each year at the New Haven Open. Olivia Wen won the finals 7-3, 7-6 against Audrey Magnusen, who played for Norwalk Stars during the winter for USTA Junior Team Tennis. Wen had two service aces enabling her to clinch the first set. She ended up winning the sudden death point at 6-6 to clinch a straight set victory.

“She was actually physically shivering with all the excitement, and perhaps nervousness,” stated Warren Wen, Olivia’s father. She didn’t go to bed until past midnight that evening as she still was so amazed at her experience.

Wen wasn’t the only player from the Weston area to have success at the New Haven Open. Prem Dave, a seven year old from Norwalk, was also undefeated en route to playing a doubles final on stadium court as well. They have built a good friendship and enjoy training together at Weston Racquet Club. The Club fully adopted tennis with the Quickstart format about three years ago when it was first being launched across the country.

Probably the most special moment came after Wen won the competition and completed her undefeated experience at the New Haven Open. She was with her family and coach when a young girl asked for her autograph. She was stunned as she signed a large fuzzy yellow tennis ball. When asked how she felt signing her first autograph Wen said, "I was there getting autographs from Caroline Wozniacki. Never thought I would be signing one. It was so cool!"

“The quality of play this year was excellent and many from Yale attended to cheer on Caroline Wozniacki, Li Na and other top players. The tournament showcases New Haven at its best and we look forward to its growth in 2012 and beyond,” said Yale University President Rick Levin. You can now add Olivia Wen as one of those top players.

John Pirtel, the director of New Haven Youth Tennis and Education, who served as the tournament director for the 8 & Under Invitational commented on the Quickstart format. “It’s really important. Kids are able to get strokes down quicker and to pick it up easier. On bigger courts that was impossible.” Matt Fraenza, Tennis Industry Marketing Manager for the New Haven Open at Yale, played a key role in not only selecting the players for the invitational but also helping run smoothly in synch with the New Haven Open professional tournament itself – and the timing had to be perfect. Since the semifinal match between Caroline Wozniacki and Francesca Schiavone was nationally televised, the window to have the 8 and under finals played on stadium court was extremely small. All in all it was a huge success, leaving a few minutes to spare, just enough time to clean up the stadium court for the televised match.

“This is all with an eye toward helping kids feel more successful quicker on the tennis court: Immediate gratification,” New Haven Open tournament director Anne Worcester. “More kids are enrolling in lessons and staying in lessons and moving on to competitive opportunities.”

“In the history of USTA, this is the largest investment we’ve made in youth tennis,” said Sue Hunt, managing director of marketing for USTA National. “With the changes, we think kids are going to fall in love with sport and develop the skills to play.” And fall in love with the sport is what the Wens have done.
For now Olivia will continue her pursuit of tennis, with her eyes set on her second state championship in the 10 & under division for Weston Racquet Club. More information about 10 & under tennis can be found online at www.10andundertennis.com while specific tennis programs local to the Weston area can be found online at www.WestonRacquet.com.

Photo Captions:
Photo 1: Weston Racquet Club’s Olivia Wen, 8 years old, hitting a forehand during her victory on stadium court at the New Haven Open.
Photo 2: Olivia Wen signs her first autograph ever for a young fan in the stands while her mother, Jing Ping, proudly looks on.
Photo 3: Olivia Wen, 8 years old, on the left, Angelo A. Rossetti, Director of Tennis at Weston Racquet Club, and Prem Dave, 7 years old, at the 1st Annual 8 & Under Invitational at the New Haven Open.

Putting Life into Perspective

Thanks to my brother Ettore for keeping me updated on the global events that put my life into perspective. Please take a moment to read my brother's blog post below:

Fast-A-Thon for Save the Children

"Experiencing Vicarious Empathy"


Ettore Rossetti, Director, Internet Communications & Marketing


Westport, CT

August 8, 2011

I work for Save the Children in the Westport, CT office. The situation caused by the droughts in East Africa is dire for children especially. Though I serve the mission of children professionally, I thought to myself ‘what can

I do personally to help even more.’ So last month during the heat wave here in the U.S., I was voluntarily working through lunch and I started to feel a late afternoon hunger pain. So, I walked downstairs to the lunchroom at about 2:45 pm in the afternoon. The door was closed, so I missed a meal. I pulled a dollar out of my pocket and tried to buy a snack from the vending machine…but it only takes exact change and I did not have 90¢, so I skipped a snack. Feeling thirsty, I walked back upstairs to the nearest coffee station but the coffee ran out, so I settled for water. I settled for water.

That’s how easy it is in Westport, CT or Washington D.C. or in much of America to find food when we are hungry or water when we are thirsty: Walking a few yards inside an air-conditioned building. But these children in East Africa walk for miles under the desert sun to get to food or water.

Every week, six year-old Sofia, carries her two-year old sister, Suada, on her back for miles to a Save the Children feeding center in Kenya. I am a parent like many of you and even if you are not a parent, we were all children once.

Imagine a child having to endure this…imagine if Sofia was your child? It is unimaginable. And in that moment I realized that there is something I could do about it. I could voluntarily fast to feel empathy. We could all fast to feel empathy and then tell our friends about it. We can be sympathetic to the plight of those children but we cannot feel empathy unless we experience some of their pain. The hunger pain around the lunch hour is a very small glimpse of their pain. And so Save the Children’s Fast-A-Thon was born in that moment of inspiration.

Some of my colleagues in the field can experience empathy directly. But through the power of the Internet, we can all experience empathy vicariously. And it is this vicarious empathy that connects us all. As I was just about to close my laptop at about 3 a.m. last night, I received a chat message on Facebook from a woman in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia thanking me for all we were doing for her country.

Some people say that social networking demonstrates the theory of “six degrees of separation” -- the idea that everyone is on average six steps away from any other person on Earth. I believe that these friend-to-friend networks do not separate us but rather connect us. Perhaps we should rename this theory to the “six degrees of connection." If we all ask 10 of our friends to donate $10 – the price of a meal – that’s $100. $100 can help us feed 1 child for 100 days, until the rains come back. That’s the power of social networking.

Thank you to all of you who are participating in Fast-A-Thon by fasting, friendraising or fundraising. But most importantly, I would like to recognize those children in East Africa who are fasting involuntarily.

____________
About Fast-A-Thon: Fast-A-Thon is a voluntary, 24-hour fasting marathon organized by Save the Children to show solidarity and to demonstrate empathy for the millions of children suffering from hunger and thirst in East Africa due to the food crisis.

About Save the Children: Save the Children is the leading, independent organization that creates lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

The ABC's of Life

I just received a gift of a plaque from a friend that I wanted to share. I added my thoughts at the end of each phrase.

Accept differences (because everyone is unique)
Be kind (because you appreciate more when others are kind to you)
Count your blessings (because life is a gift and you never know how long you'll be around)
Dream (because it makes life all the more amazing)
Express thanks (because the phrase "thank you" is one of the most powerful yet under-used phrases in the English language)
Forgive (because you never know when you'll need to be forgiven)
Give freely (because generosity builds character and bridges between us)
Harm no one (as nothing is gained)
Imagine more (because the world is our oyster)
Jettison anger (because smiles look much nicer than frowns)
Keep confidences (because that's what they are meant for)
Love truly (because it enriches peoples lives including our own)
Master something (as it's much better than be ok at everything)
Nurture hope (because it gives people things to strive for)
Open your mind (as you can never stop learning)
Pack lightly (as you'll never know who you'll need to carry)
Quell rumors (since most are never positive or accurate)
Reciprocate (because it's the right thing to do)
Seek wisdom (as it's the best way to grow and learn from other's mistakes)
Touch hearts (because life is too superficial)
Understand (as listening is a skill worth nurturing)
Value truth (as it builds trust)
Win graciously (as you'll build friends not competitors)
Xeriscape (as it helps preserve the earth's resources)
Yearn for peace (since it's a way to unify the world)
Zealously support a worthy cause (as it puts others in need first)

The ABC's of Life by R. Stewart 2005