Taylor Townsend has been playing tennis since she was a child, and the hardships that come with being an athlete and being a black woman in a predominantly white sport are not new to her.
The coronavirus pandemic has overturned what we thought of as “normal life”: it completely transformed people’s livelihoods and had a negative impact on people’s mental health. For Townsend, coping mentally was the hardest part during the pandemic. “I actually started therapy. I said to myself, ‘OK, if I’m not able to train as much as I want and play games and travel – and I’ve really had a hard time with this new normal of mine – I’m going to work in my mind and try to immerse myself in some things that may have inhibited me on the pitch, ‘”he told POPSUGAR.
The period when she wasn’t able to train and compete was a great opportunity to work on herself, she explained, because she took the time to emotionally process her feelings. In addition to working on herself, Townsend has acquired new hobbies such as painting, gardening, playing the piano, and has set herself the goal of reading one book a month. “I was trying to keep myself busy in other ways,” she said.
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But no matter how hard she tried to keep herself mentally stimulated and busy, Townsend could not ignore the racial and social injustices occurring around the world and in the United States. As a black woman and black athlete in a predominantly white sport, “That’s a lot,” she said. “I just fought because [you’re] constantly on your phone, on your computer: wherever you go, you are always involved. It seemed like every day was something new. It was emotionally draining. It was a mental and emotional drain, “he continued.
To protect his peace, Townsend has decided to take time away from social media “and focus on what’s important to me and my space.” But that distant time didn’t mean he wouldn’t face the daily injustices that affect blacks and people of color on and off the pitch. Like many black athletes, Townsend spoke of the racial and social injustices non-whites face on a daily basis.
“As an athlete, it was strange because tennis – this conversation is never talked about in the sport,” he said. Townsend has described the conversations that have emerged in the past as “very superficial”, expressing that he believes this is due to the fact that blacks are not the majority in tennis. “Our problems are not common on 97% of the tour, just as 90-95% of our tour is foreign. So, the problems that are happening in America will not be recorded in the same way as someone who lives here and is from here. because it is a historical thing “.
Start with re-evaluating the system because the system is not meant for us to thrive.
Recently, when given the opportunity to talk about topics like racial injustice with the tennis community, Townsend felt “extremely disappointed, honestly, with the way what I have been talking about has been conveyed”. She felt as if her voice had been taken away and her message muffled. But Townsend is not holding back and will continue to talk about injustices in both sport and the United States.
Asked how to make tennis more diverse, Townsend said, “People don’t have that expendable income just to start … And then I think the second part is getting in.” For predominantly white sports like baseball, tennis, fencing, and swimming, you need funds and access to equipment and facilities, as opposed to a sport like basketball where all you need is a ball and a circle and you can train yourself.
To create a change in tennis, in particular, Townsend said larger federations and organizations need to provide resources and programming for inner city children and people living in low-income areas so they can have exposure. , experience and support to be successful. “So, I think it starts with re-evaluating the system because the system is not meant for us to thrive,” he said.
Like many sports, tennis has a long way to go in becoming more diverse and accessible to all, but a new generation of athletes, such as Townsend, make sure all people are represented and can pursue their passion for the game.
