For this assignment I interviewed my tennis coach Dominik Wrona. He has been a tennis coach for a while and started an amazing career with tennis and coaching. I chose to interview him because he has started and achieved a career in tennis, in the future I want to be able to work on my passion and start a career in tennis like he and the coaches in my tennis centre did. I am passionate about tennis and hope to achieve something with my skills. I learned the different factors about coaching and being passionate about tennis, I learned that to reach the goal you created for yourself, you need to be patient and to never give up on what you are doing. The way it connects to my passion of tennis is the fact of keep on practicing, no matter how good or bad you are keep practicing and never give up. When I used to do something wrong in tennis I would become angry at myself, later on I learned that you need to keep practicing and improving instead of bringing yourself down.
Why are you passionate about your job?
I would link my passion with two factors, social interactions and personal accomplishment. Having positive interactions with students and clients on a daily basis brings a great sense of positive energy and focus to each session. On many occasions when I’ve had a challenging day I greatly look forward to coaching and being able to enjoy a few jokes and laughs with students. Secondly being able to able in each student’s personal development is thoroughly motivating and proves a great feeling seeing progress achieved by students; its great seeing their personal accomplishments and overall process every session.
2. What obstacles have you faced to get you where you are today?
Getting started in the tennis industry isn’t the easiest. Like most careers its important to have a few connections that can provide you with strong recommendation and point you in the right direction. Being involved with tennis my entire life gave me quite a number of those connections which I was luckily able to use, and to get myself started!
3. What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?
Patience is critical to be a successful coach; without it you’ll definitely burn yourself out mentally and physically. Keeping a growth mindset is needed for any successful career; especially with coaching, as the sport changes and adapts so do coaches. Without keeping a growth mindset, it is easy to fall behind and become outdated as a coach.
4. Would you be open to further contact from riverside students and if so, how can someone contact you?
Yes, by my current work email – dwrona@thetenniscentre.ca
5. If you could change something about getting started with this passion/job what would it be?
I would have gotten into a club coaching environment sooner; I worked for the City of Burnaby for my first 2 years; which was a good start but I should’ve went straight into club coaching.
Do you want to stick to this career in the future? If you don’t, what would you also be passionate about?
I would definitely continue this career; at least part time even if I choose to switch into investment banking. Its something I enjoy doing and feel lucky to be a part of in my community.
The reason I chose to do a tennis coach was because I really enjoy playing tennis and it inspires me, when I play tennis, I forget about all my problems and forget about everything I am stressing about. I feel happy when I play this sport. My coach also inspires me on the way he teaches and how he pursues his passion in tennis, he has a great bond with all his students and his students look up to him and that’s something that I inspire to have. Tennis is one of my passions, I can’t wait to improve in tennis and inspire others the way tennis and my coaches inspire me.
Sources for photos: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-person-holding-tennis-racket-and-ball-1432039/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-tennis-ball-on-court-1405355/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-sitting-on-bench-watching-tennis-event-on-field-during-daytime-171568/
http://coquitlam.thetenniscentre.ca/
Thank you for submitting your Community Connection assignment for COL. We have reviewed your Edublogs post, and have the following observations regarding your work:
– Great job interviewing someone and seeking out information regarding their expertise
– Way to incorporate your answers on your Edublogs portfolio
Thank you,
Mr. Robinson and Mr. Barazzuol
COL Teachers