Bonding through tennis

RICK DEVEREUX

When I think of a son and a parent spending a summer day together

bonding through a sporting activity, I usually think of a dad and his

boy going to a baseball game. The dad is teaching the son how to

score a sacrifice bunt in the scorecard, predicting if the manager

will try a hit-and-run or not, showing the proper way to throw a

circle change.

Michael Daigh, however, spent Sunday with his mom, Rita, at the

finals for the Roy Emerson Adoption Guild Tennis Classic at the

Balboa Bay Racquet Club.

Rita is a member of the Adoption Guild and volunteered as a worker

for the tournament. Michael, 11, volunteered as a ball boy.

“Tennis gives us something to focus on and play together,” Rita

said. “Instead of just taking him somewhere and dropping him off, now

I can interact with him within the sport. Now I’m doing it with him.”

Michael, like most sons, is able to bond with his father through

other activities. His dad is the coach of his soccer and basketball

teams and is trying to get him involved in football.

Rita, like some mothers, felt a little bit on the outside of that

kind of connection with her son.

But tennis bridged that gap.

“She told me that she used to play tennis and then I tried it,”

Michael said. “I started to like it, so I kept going.

Rita admits that Michael’s love of tennis has gotten her back

playing again and she saw the ball boy opportunity as a perfect

chance to show her son a level of competition he had not witnessed

before.

“I thought that this would be such a great thing for him because

he’s never seen a tournament,” she said. “Since he’s getting into

tennis and wants to eventually join a league, for him to come out and

see how it’s really played, I think was really good for him. That’s

why I really wanted him to do it.”

Michael said he enjoyed running on the court when all eyes were

watching, but he was also watching what the players were doing and

learning tennis tips.

“The biggest thing I learned was probably watching the players do

top spin and slicing,” he said.

Tennis has not only tightened the mother-son bond, but it has also

helped Michael stay close with his sister, Rebecca.

The Duaighs adopted Rebecca when she was 3 years old. Now 8,

Rebecca and Michael fight like all brothers and sisters do (“Rebecca

sometimes takes my stuff without asking. And she hits me,” he says),

but tennis keeps them connected.

“It gives them a common bond, a goal and something they can do

together and help each other with,” Rita said.

The adage is true, the family that plays together stays together.