Stroking for success on and off the court

An incoming Great Neck South High School freshman, Sophia Elizabeth Schutté, said the lessons she learned playing tennis have helped her succeed on and off the court.
Schutté said she conveyed her successes in an essay she submitted for the Arthur Ashe Essay Contest, an annual writing competition held by the United States Tennis Association and National Junior Tennis League, and ended up being one of 10 winners.
“I felt ecstatic. I couldn’t believe that I had won,” she said. “I never thought that I would win this award in the first place.”
Schutté was born and raised in Great Neck.
Her father, Karl Schutté, said she had a passion for tennis at a young age.
When she was about 4 years old, he said, she came into the living room where he was watching the French Open and was mesmerized by the sport.
He said the two of them  would take two flutes that the family had around the house and a balloon and play tennis across their coffee table.
“She was always more of a creative type. If you gave her a doll, she would just walk away,” Karl Schutté said. “She would always challenge me and wanted to do something active.”
He said the Great Neck Park District’s Parkwood Tennis Center had a program that took children  from ages  3 to 5 to various tennis courts around Great Neck, which Sophia loved.
When Sophia was 7 years old, she decided to pursue tennis more seriously, Karl Schutté said.
She continued to play on her own until last year, when she joined New York Junior Tennis and Learning, or NYJTL.
He said every Wednesday, he or his wife, Mary Schutté, would take Sophia to NYJTL’s Bronx location for training.
He said the trip from Great Neck helped Sophia discipline herself to complete her schoolwork.
“She knew if she couldn’t keep up with her work, then she couldn’t keep up with tennis,” Karl Schutté said.
He also said that NYJTL gives young tennis players an excellent place to train competitively.
“It’s kind of like a bunch of gladiators sparring against each other, which is very positive,” he said.
Mary Schutté said the NYJTL facility offers tennis players great training, but also the resources to succeed in the classroom.
“Their facility, more than any other facility Sophia has played in, they really promote academics and have desks and working areas for kids to do homework,” she said. “It’s really great as far as what the results have been with Sophia.”
Sophia said her tennis opportunities have led to her success in the classroom.
“I think tennis has impacted my life with schooling and my discipline on and off the court,” she said. “It has helped me a lot in school actually to have confidence and helped me manage my time.”
NYJTL, Sophia said, requires that members interested in joining a tennis summer camp enter the Arthur Ashe Essay Contest.
For winning the contest, she received a lot of perks including a stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, tickets for a Broadway show and the opportunity to play  with professional tennis players.
Sophia said she also had to give a speech at an awards luncheon for the contest winners.
Last week, she found out she would be playing on South High’s junior varsity tennis team.
Sophia said she believes she will be able to find the balance of playing for the school team and finishing schoolwork and was looking forward to the experience.
“I think I’ll be able to manage to adjust,” she said. “It comes with time and I’m going to have to see what the new experience brings.”
Looking into the future, Sophia said she had an interest in receiving a scholarship to play tennis in college.
But for now, she said, she is focused on finding success with the South High team.
“I’m hoping to be number one singles,” Sophia said. “They do require me to play doubles, so I’m hoping to be number one in doubles and let’s see from there how it goes.”