ANDERSON, S.C. — Incidental in his development are his coaches and mentors. It takes a village to raise a child, it takes an army to raise a student-athlete. Noah Johnston has a tight niche family who all contribute in their own way to his well-being. The team at Brookstone Tennis in Anderson has done an outstanding job developing his talent, love for the game, competitive instincts, mental toughness, physical preparation, technical prowess, and creativity.

Noah’s commitment and dedication has brought him many victories and celebrations. He won the 10 and under State Championships, 10u Southern Championships, 12u little Mo Internationals, Bronze at Nationals 14us doubles with partner Gray Kelley of Los Angeles. But his most significant win recently…

Noah traveled to Indian Wells to play the National Championships 14u. 64 elite athletes were selected based on national ranking to compete in this event. Noah came in as number 9 seed. He beat Omar Rhazali of New England in the first round decisively. In the second round he played Nicholas Rizzo of IMG academy in Florida on center court. It happened that on that day the temperature was over 95 degrees. We were in the desert after all but how do you prepare a child to the heat when it’s still 50 degrees at home? We did our heat protocol, proper hydration, ice, cool towel etc.… played a super solid first set 62. Made a little mistake in the beginning of the second set and got broken and ultimately lost 64. 10-minute coaching break. This is where the mental toughness training and physical preparation come into play. Noah comes out swinging, takes the lead 4-1 to ultimately prevail 62 in the third. Because it took 3 hours and Noah was the last match on in the heat of the day, the referee witnessed Noah’s extraordinary fair play and attitude on court.

In the third round Noah was excited to play the number 4 seed. The tables turned however as the number 4 seed was taken out in 3 set by a young man from Southern California. The pressure was now on Noah. More nervous before his match than I usually see, Noah did a thorough warm up and calmed himself down. Noah turns around and plays a flawless 6261 against Roshan Santhosh.

We are now in the quarters. Noah’s mother and step dad are traveling with him. Every little detail in Noah’s life is attended to, nutrition, hydration, massage and recovery, sleep, stringing, regripping, warm up courts, warm up partner, pre-match game plan, and full on encouragements. Also, when I mean nutrition. You know how many calories a teenage boy needs? Well add to that someone who digs a whole in his brand-new tennis shoes in 10 days from all the running on hot asphalt and that tells you how much to feed this kid.

Noah beat Gus Grumet from Northern California in the quarters. By this time Noah is perfectly grooved. Decisive score 6160. He then beats number 1 seed Ronit Karli of New Jersey 6062. It’s now down to the finals. Noah plays this 6 foot 4 Russian-American 14 year old named Evan Sharygin. It’s the big scene, Noah is pumped. Most people fold under this kind of pressure but Noah is hyped up. Bleachers, chair umpire with microphone, big crowd, live feed on YouTube, radio announcer live, electronic score board and radar gun for the serve. The first game takes 20 minutes. Deuce ad, deuce ad, 12 game points overall. Evan goes up 1-0. Second game Noah gets broken 2-0. Evan holds 3-0. It might look like Noah is in the hole but I can see his wheel turning. He is figuring it out. He is such a smart player. He is getting used to the pace and is starting to impose his own style of play. 3-1. Saves a ball to go down 4-1. How big was that point? Humongous! 3-2, 4-2, and now we are on a roll, 4-3, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4. First set Noah. Evan takes the usual bathroom break that some players take to stop the momentum. But Noah is on fire. Or did I mention that Evan is known for his massive serve. Well of course, with a radar gun in view, Noah has to compete on that too. Noah’s biggest bombs on first serves were 110, 113 and 116 miles an hour. Not bad for 14 years old! The second set is just a matter of Noah keeping the lid down. He keeps the pedal to the medal and wins the second set 61!

What a match, the emotions are high, the crowd is roaring. Noah Johnston of Anderson South Carolina, seeded number 9, training at home and going to his beloved Wren public school is National Champion!

Ultimately, Noah and his doubles partner Gray surprised everyone by winning the doubles event. The officials recognized in Noah his outstanding attitude and gave him the Sportsmanship award. Noah won Singles, Doubles and Sportsmanship award! So proud.

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.