The Rogers Cup

When I first applied to be a Rogers Cup volunteer back in June, I had little hope that I would be roaming the grounds of York University in August, because I had missed all the important deadlines. But luck would have it that in July, a few spots opened up and I was pulled off the waitlists. After going through the orientation and getting the free tickets and the uniforms, I felt pretty excited about the tournament.

Then, I had a job for a month. Before I knew it, August 15th was here. On opening Saturday, I went to visit the grounds with one of my friends. Then, the following morning, I was on my first shift, as an usher on Grandstand, the largest court outside of Rexall Centre. Sitting in the sun all day, I got ridiculously tanned, but the tennis was great.

On Opening Night on the 17th, I was there again for my second shift. It was just an amazing atmosphere. Then on Wednesday night, I went with a friend just to kick up our feet and watch tennis. Serena played that night and she won. Ivanovic also played that night and she lost.

Thursday night was probably the wildest of all my shifts. With ominous clouds bearing down on Rexall Centre, I was tucked safely inside the Tennis Canada offices. And then came the wind, the funnel, and then a tornado. Though the tornado wasn't near us, the funnel was still visible from the stadium and due to that, everybody was evacuated indoors. Still, just shortly before 9, tennis was back on. That night, I also squeegeed a tennis court for the first time.

Thursday night, I came home at 1 in the morning. Friday morning, I had to catch a morning shift. On Saturday, I brought my parents along for the day session and a couple of my best buddies for the night session. That was a ton of fun.

Now today, it hit me how fast this tournament went by and how much fun I had. I'm a pretty nostalgic person by nature, and I'm going to miss volunteering at the Rogers Cup. It was so cool to see the teamwork from all the volunteers. And of course, seeing what makes the tennis happen over these 9 days-you know, the behind the scenes stuff.

I caught about 20 matches over the course of this week, including most of today's two finals. I also scored a few tennis balls, two tennis bottles left over from Dementieva's practice, sat in an umpire's chair, and stepped onto Centre Court. For now, I can only say that I can't wait to come back next year!

-D