Every year millions of people around the globe tune their televisions to the courts of Wimbledon as the world's best tennis players meet for the year's ultimate prize in their sport.
And every year countless children on the streets of London pace aimlessly in anticipation to hear the results of how their hero or favorite player did in their match.
Among the masses, three current Ball State women's tennis players - sophomore Melissa Roach and freshmen Jenny Batty and Abigail Hodge - sat on their stoops and listened to their idols play.
Still, thousands of miles from home, it was the recruitment efforts of head coach Kathy Bull that pulled the trio to Ball State, eventually making them Cardinals. All three players said it was Bull's enthusiasm and charisma that attracted them to a campus that only Batty saw before signing.
"I have a lot of respect for Kathy," Roach said. "We're on the same page. When I came here, I was always like, 'I can always transfer.' But Kathy was the reason I came, and I'm glad I did. We were welcomed into a family."
Leading the Way
With the graduation of four seniors last year, Roach has been thrust into the position of team leader, as no player on the current squad is a senior. Having played at No. 3 singles the majority of last season, she was moved to No. 1 where head coach Kathy Bull said, "She never sees a break in the caliber of players she goes up against."
The usually vocal Roach has met the leadership challenge with what Bull said is a "lead-by-example" mentality. Despite facing a number of national-caliber opponents, and losing convincingly, Roach said she takes it all in stride.
"You have to have losses for reality," Roach said. "You can't get where you want to go unless you learn from past matches."
After two years away from home, Roach relies on her roots and upbringing as source of pride and motivation.
"I'm English through-and-through," Roach said.
Coach by Richard Plews, Roach had little time on the court to do what she has playing for Ball State, and she said it took some getting used to.
"At home (in England), you would work out with a coach about one hour a day, if that," Roach said. "But here, it is so much more intense. Every day I'm at the gym two or three hours working up a sweat."
But with all the hard work that Roach is putting in, she said she has but one goal she wants before she graduates - to be recognized as the best player in the Mid-American Conference.
Coming to nowhere
With the most active view of the greatest tennis tournament in the world, Hodge has served as a line judge at Wimbledon the past three years, where she met her favorite players.
"It gave me a sense of reality, like they are real people, too," Hodge said. "We went out to the pub afterward, and they would be there like it was nothing."
In England, sports are not affiliated with schools as they are in the United States. In order to play, individuals must hire coaches and, in the case of tennis players, pay for time on the court. Paying as much as $70 an hour just to practice, Hodge said the expense of the sport forced many of her friends out of competition.
"My family is not rich by any means," Hodge said. "But my family wanted me to play sports because it gives you more opportunities to succeed."
Nonetheless, in her travels to Muncie, Hodge was taken aback when she first set foot on campus last fall.
"None of my family had every been to America and none of friends had been to America," Hodge said. "So to me, America was just a big map with a little dot for Muncie."
Hodge said she was used to the over-populated cities of England. So, when she got here, she said she had some adjusting to do.
"Any town in England is near other places and has things in it," Hodge said. "I didn't realize that, literally, Muncie was Muncie and then nothing."
Quiet Affirmation
Unlike her other two English counterparts, Batty is not as vocal as Roach and Hodge. The quiet, laid-back Batty lets her playing talk for her instead.
Her love for the sport grew as a child, where she could often be found hitting a ball up against a wall before she ever played organized tennis. Despite her involvement in other sports such as field hockey and netball (and English version of basketball), it was tennis that she stuck to.
"I just enjoy tennis more," Batty said. "I don't know, I guess I'm better at it, too."
Her love for the game has fueled her as she has had to adjust to the intensity level of playing in the United States. Nonetheless, the fire she had for the game in England has stayed with her, driving her, motivating her.
"Just the feeling when you've won that really good match," Batty said. "The feeling you get when you realize that everything you've worked for is worth it and is paying off."
While having the team succeed is still what Batty wants to see happen, she said she has learned new values and playing techniques.
"I play for myself," Batty said. "Out here, the one thing I've learned is you don't play for anyone else - you play for yourself."
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