So I wanted to follow-up on my big decision to quit one of my teams which I ranted about several weeks ago in How To Make Me Quit Your Tennis Team. This was my team where my captain consistently placed me on a very low line with an endless stream of subs who seemed only vaguely familiar with the game of tennis. And although we usually won our matches, it was always after a long and hard struggle that just wasn't any fun. I got really tired of “taking one for the team” week after week after week.
So I quit.
At the last match of the season, which my partner and I won 11-0 (this league plays one pro set, first to 11, rather than regular sets), I went to my captain and told her that I had decided to leave the team and would not be returning for the next season. I told her that I did not feel “challenged” at the line I was playing and was having a hard time with subs being rotated in so often. I was (I thought) very nice about it and did not indicate what a poor job I thought she had done in captaining the team.
And her reaction to my gut-wrenching decision to become a quitter? Nothing. Nada. Zip. And I mean that literally. She didn't say, “Sorry to see you go.” She didn't say, “At last, you're leaving!” She didn't even say, “What did you say? I didn't hear you.” She said nothing.
A few days later, I got an e-mail invitation to the team's Holiday Luncheon (that was nice of her) and after that I got an e-mail saying that “several ladies” were leaving the team but would hopefully play as subs next season.
Can you have a team populated by nothing but subs? That seems to be where she's headed.
Anyway, I thought my departure was going to be traumatic for someone (me?) and I was going to get to report the fireworks here. But it's turned out to be not that big of a deal. I can, however, say that I'm happy I quit that team and I find it extremely unlikely that I will be playing for them as a sub. I thought I would dread giving up one of my tennis days but I'm now looking forward to having some free time to work out more (I just signed up for a half-marathon in September which is another story) and maybe I'll start looking around for another team to join up with.
Finally, I want to say thanks to the very many of you who read my post about quitting and provided me with some moral support on taking the position that I did. Believe it or not, I really struggled with putting that info out there and it meant a lot to me to hear that I wasn't completely crazy in wanting to leave the team. Thanks to you my fabulous Tennis Fixation Followers!
© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved
Chin up chica. You’ll be fine. It’s a tough decision to quit a team. I myself did so last fall and also wrote about it. I too have had no regrets. It helps that I have since bought a ball machine.