Africa Update

It looks like Rex Miller is going back to Uganda, thanks to a few generous friends who agreed to underwrite the trip. If you haven’t been following my posts on Miller, please check them out in the archives. Rex has been trying to help Patrick Olobo, a Ugandan Davis Cup player, escape his war-torn homeland and get a college scholarship here so he can pursue an education and maybe even a pro tennis career.

Rex is leaving for Uganda on Saturday, and he’s hoping to come back—with Patrick. They might even try to make it for the last few days of the U.S. Open. Meanwhile, Rex has filed his Tennis Life column for our November/December issue. It’s about his experience in Uganda with Patrick. Here’s a teaser, from what I’m extolling as a must-read column:

Those training sessions were very intense for about a year, at the end of which Father Kinge selected Patrick to represent Uganda in a tournament in neighboring Kenya. But shortly after Patrick returned from that event, Father Kinge succumbed to cancer. The news devastated Patrick. But his tennis journey had begun, and he was not turning back. He still travels with his mentor’s last words of advice ringing in his ears:

“Father Kinge told me, ‘Patrick, these are some of the words you must carry with you. I don’t want you ever to lose them or forget them. Whenever you are playing a tough match, never think of anything outside of the court. Only think of the ball. And never declare a point yours until the point is finished.’ And then he told me never to give up. Even though a match is tough, I should always keep trying to play the tennis I know I am capable of.”

If you want to know more,scroll through my past posts on the subject. And If you want to get involved and help Rex get Patrick out of Africa, write to me, or Rex, at rexpixfilm@earthlink.net.