Alum '14 chides USTA for language ban
Allegra Hanlon '14 has been featured in The Washington Post and National Public Radio for speaking out against a U.S. Tennis Association rule that penalizes players for outbursts in a foreign language. Hanlon, a junior at Cornell, drew a penalty for shouting "Vamos!" after winning a point in a USTA tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Hanlon wrote about the experience in a story that appeared in the Post on Sept. 9, and she was later interviewed on National Public Radio. During her senior year at Ransom Everglades, Hanlon won state titles in singles and doubles; she now competes for Cornell.
Here's an excerpt from the Post story.
I’m not even halfway to my chair when I turn around to see a short, round, blue-shirted referee make a beeline toward me.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask. “It’s 5-4 now, for me.” I look at my opponent for some sign of disagreement, but she looks confused, too. “You can’t say ‘bamos’ or whatever you said. You gotta speak English out here, not some other language.”
“What other language?” I ask. Surely there’s a mistake, I think in a panic. “Vamos” in Spanish means, “Come on.” It is universally understood. It is Rafa Nadal’s battle cry. More importantly, it’s my word, my battle cry. I’m half-Colombian on my mother’s side, and although I’m born and raised in the United States and fully bilingual, Spanish is my first language, still my default setting in moments of joy or stress.
To read the whole story, go here.
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Here's an excerpt from the Post story.
I toss the ball and spin it out wide for an ace. My opponent smacks the side of her shoe with her racquet as we prepare to switch ends of the court, and in a moment of elation after two and a half hours of tennis, I yell, “Vamos!”
“Point penalty, Hanlon! No speaking in other languages!”
I’m not even halfway to my chair when I turn around to see a short, round, blue-shirted referee make a beeline toward me.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask. “It’s 5-4 now, for me.” I look at my opponent for some sign of disagreement, but she looks confused, too. “You can’t say ‘bamos’ or whatever you said. You gotta speak English out here, not some other language.”
“What other language?” I ask. Surely there’s a mistake, I think in a panic. “Vamos” in Spanish means, “Come on.” It is universally understood. It is Rafa Nadal’s battle cry. More importantly, it’s my word, my battle cry. I’m half-Colombian on my mother’s side, and although I’m born and raised in the United States and fully bilingual, Spanish is my first language, still my default setting in moments of joy or stress.
To read the whole story, go here.
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Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.