 |
|
« Back |
Post Date: Friday, June 30, 2023 |
|
|
 For Andrei Daescu, playing sports at a professional level is something of a family trait. Growing up, Andrei’s father was a professional basketball player in their home country of Romania. In fact, it was his father and his father’s friends who got Daescu on the tennis path.
“I got involved with tennis when I was six,” Andrei explained. “My dad used to go out with his buddies pretty much every weekend he was off and play some tennis andI used to go with him. I always wanted to play and so one day he said ‘You know what you are old enough now why don’t you take a lesson with this pro over here’ and from that moment on I played tennis.”
While tennis would be the sport Andrei would ultimately end up focusing on, he loved being active and would
play soccer, basketball, and even bike until the age of 11 when he realized that tennis was his true calling.
“Once I turned my attention to tennis, I put everything else on the back burner,” Daescu said. “I started training everyday for 4 to 5 hours a day and started playing in some junior tournaments around Europe.
”While Andrei had quite a successful professional tennis career, like many in South Florida and around the country he found himself getting caught up in the Pickleball craze.While Pickleball has really blown up over the last year or two, Andrei remembers the first time he picked up a Pickleball racket back in 2017.
“The first time I picked up a Pickleball paddle was atBallenIsles back in 2017,” Andrei recalls. “We had some members who discovered it and they were trying to bring it to the club. One day they asked me to get some tape and put it on the tennis court and they had a temporary net and they made a Pickleball court. I tried it with them and I thought it was fun.”
As Pickleball began to take off at the club Andrei brought in a couple of pros for an exhibition and a learn-to-play clinic. During the exhibition, the pros found themselves needing an extra guy and Andrei was more than happy to jump in and help out.
“I really enjoyed playing with the pros,” Andrei explained.“It was very fun, very high paced, high energy. It was about2 weeks after that exhibition that I signed up for my first tournament.”
While Pickleball and tennis are two different games,they share many similarities and, while Andrei admits that he doesn’t really play competitive tennis anymore, he attributes his competitive tennis background to his success in his second career field, Pickleball.
“I think for a tennis player, the learning curve is much more favorable than for someone who hasn’t played racquet sports, especially at a competitive level,” Daescusaid. “For me, Pickleball is kind of a combination of tennis and ping pong.”
Much like during his tennis career, Andrei has found success in Pickleball as well, winning his first pro tournament in 2021 in Punta Gorda.
“The day of the tournament it was cold in the morning and windy and it made it very challenging to play,” Andrei said. “It was a men’s doubles day so by the time my partner and I got to the final we were both very tired. I was also super dehydrated as well but I didn’t realize it so when it got cold out again during the final I started cramping andI wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish. I was able to get through it and we won and it was a very sweet victory.”
While Andrei has turned his love of sports into a career, for many it is something that they do for fun. Regardless, Daescu believes there are many valuable life lessons that can be taught through sports, whether it’s on the Pickleball court, the tennis court, or any other playing surface.
“I think in general sports are a great teaching tool for life,”Andrei said. “I think there are a lot of aspects of sports that you can translate into your day-to-day life. Sports teaches you discipline, hard work, and that there are no short cuts in life.”
Click here to view the original cover story. |
|
|
