Photo by Erin Nelson.
Adriana Sciara at the UAB tennis courts prior to a lesson March 21.
Adriana Sciara wants to be the next tennis superstar, and through injuries and a new routine, she hopes to reach the top.
She is 13 years old and a recent graduate of Brookwood Forest Elementary School. She has since transitioned to homeschooling, but with a slight twist. She gets her school work done, but a big part of her day goes toward the sport she loves.
Adriana has won multiple tournaments in the past couple of years, including a massive win at the USTA Southern Winter Level 1 Championships in the 14-and-under division in Mobile on Jan. 21. She faced off against opponents from nine other states in the South and won seven matches to claim the top prize.
Adriana said the goal is to be at the top of the tennis world no matter what direction she has to travel to get there.
“I want to play professional [tennis] and be the best in the world one day,” she said. “Whatever path I have to take for that, I’m willing to take it.”
Adriana’s mother, Paige Sciara, said it was the right move for Adriana and the family to allow her to homeschool while she pursues her dream.
“We felt like the schedule you have to keep with high-level junior tennis between the traveling and the amount of time outside of school that you put into training,” she said. “You spend all day at school and then there’s clinic, lessons and still homework to do. You couple that with the fact that you’re out of town a lot of weekends at tournaments. You put that together and it just made sense as a family to let her homeschool.”
Homeschooling allows Adriana to get her schoolwork finished but also offers more flexibility to work on her craft, train and compete in more tournaments during the school year. Adriana agreed it will help her focus on improving her game and not miss a lot of schoolwork while she is gone.
“It’s helped a lot and allowed me to focus more on tennis,” she said. “It allows us to have more opportunities to travel. Now, we don’t have to worry about getting back and having to make up a lot of stuff. We just get back and keep going.”
With a changing routine, Adriana has also had to get past injuries to get back to herself playing tennis. She has broken both wrists and a growth plate in her shoulder. She said the injuries have made her appreciate the sport and her time with tennis.
“I really think it’s helped a lot,” she said. “It’s made me realize how much of a privilege it is to play. When I healed, my doctors recommended working out and exercising more to strengthen me so it wouldn’t happen again, and it made me stronger.”
Adriana is now at full strength and dominating tournaments around the South. Her mom said it has been a fun journey watching her daughter play tennis at a high level.
“As a parent, you want to see your children succeed,” Paige Sciara said. “With tennis, just like other sports, you don’t see the growth and accomplishment [right away]. It’s very up and down, and you see them go through phases where they try something new and it’s not working. Then you see when it finally clicks down the road and they feel good about it and see them up their game to a new level.”
