INTERVIEW: James Medlow Opens Up About His Journey As An IRP Trainee
The T&RA caught up with James Medlow, who is progressing along nicely as one of the first candidates in the Investing in Rackets Professionals programme.
When the T&RA began searching for candidates for our new Investing in Rackets Professionals programme, James Medlow was one of the first to come to mind. The young athlete grew up in Hayling Island as a member of Seacourt Tennis Club, and though he originally started as a Real Tennis player, he has shown quite a lot of promise on the Rackets court and had recently completed a fellowship in the United States.
“I played Real Tennis forever, but not much Rackets, sadly, just because there's not loads going on down there Rackets-wise. But my brother, who is a Rackets Pro in America, was like, ‘You've got to start playing. Like, get it going!’” Medlow shares of how he discovered the game.
He heeded his brother’s advice and started attending a weekly club night at Seacourt, where he immediately got hooked on the game. “It's quite a nice transition if you've played Real Tennis – getting into Rackets isn't difficult, and same with the other way around; you're used to the walls and stuff, so you can make the jump. It was a hell of a lot quicker than I was used to though, that's for sure! It was very fun and it was a new challenge, because [the ball] was flying around a lot faster than I expected.”
Medlow was lucky enough to land a Rackets fellowship in Chicago, where he realized he wanted to pursue a career in the sport.
“The time in Chicago that I did doing the fellowship, you are almost working. You're not getting paid, but you get a very good idea of what the career would be like, and I really enjoyed it,” he shares. “I love spending time on court, there's a good social side, and teaching is something that's good fun.”
As fortune would have it, Medlow played in a tournament at The Queen’s Club shortly after returning to England, and in a case of being in the right place at the right time, he was introduced to Ben Bomford, Head Rackets Professional at Queen’s, who told him about the IRP.
“I was playing a lot of Real Tennis and Rackets, but obviously I had just got back from America, so I didn't really have a job or anything, and Bommers [Bomford] mentioned that there might be something coming up in the next year or so to help sort of get an assistant in, basically, like a training sort of contract,” Medlow says. “At the time, I wasn't completely aware it was the IRP, but he explained to me the rules and everything, that it was a two-year training deal and you'd kind of learn and the hope is that you'll stay in the game and become a long-term Professional. I said I was a hundred percent interested.”
The IRP signed Medlow, and he’s now working at The Queen’s Club as one of the programme’s first trainees. In addition to gaining experience on court as both a player and a coach, he’s working through the IRP accreditation process, whereby Professionals are evaluated against areas of competence at each of the levels under assessment, which are laid down in a log book.
“It’s the same as the IiP for Real Tennis – it's a logbook filled with all the different skills required, like string a racquet in a certain amount of time, be able to work out if a racquet is broken or if it can take more re-strings and repairs, be able to teach a lesson, all those different types of things,” Medlow explains, adding that he’s already accomplished quite a bit from the book.
“My re-strings are at the expected time limit, I'm on court and giving lessons, so the kind of confidence of being able to teach someone from like a complete beginner, I've had quite a few of those. I've given lessons to intermediate [players] and some of the better players I've been on court with, to help improve their stroke, etc. My repairs are where they need to be, I believe. Things like the balls, wrapping the balls, working out if the ball is cracked or not and whether or not they need to go in the bin. So that's where I'm at, so far. I've been going through it with Bommers.”
And speaking of Ben Bomford, Medlow says he is beyond grateful to be working under such a talented, dedicated and competent Rackets Professional.
“It's been really good. He's the nicest guy and he's so helpful, which is important. He's open to any question -- there's never a stupid question with Ben. He's very enthusiastic and very enthusiastic to go on court, as well, which is good. So he's been showing me the ropes and I couldn't ask for a better boss.”
In fact, Medlow is full of praise for the entire team at Queen’s. “I work with the whole Pro shop: Neil [Mackenzie], Bryn [Sayers], Ben Ronaldson. I've helped out with a little bit of Real Tennis on the side when needed. We're all in it together; that whole Pro shop, we're a team, really.”
As for the structure of the IRP, Medlow explains that having a set framework is invaluable for the future of Rackets Professionals.
“I think it's good to have quite an obvious idea of your progress, where you're ticking boxes and working as you go along for specific skills, rather than just sort of a day-by-day, ‘I'll do this and do this,’ and then six months down the line, ‘Oh, I never learned that,’ because it's not something you come across very often,” he explains. “With the IRP, you can see on a piece of paper what you need to do and you know what's to be expected. That's definitely been helpful.”
He’s still early in the IRP trajectory, but Medlow is already thinking about how he envisions his career as a Rackets Pro.
“I'm still in the learning process, but I think I’d be interested in any of the jobs in Rackets, to be honest. Whether it's here or we went to one of the schools recently to see what that was like, to have a look around, and I think they'd all be good,” he shares. “At the moment, I'm sort of torn between whether I want to stay at a club or go to a school, where there's a bit of a different vibe, I'm sure.”
No matter where it leads, Medlow is thankful to be a part of the IRP and is grateful for those who have donated to the programme either as Patrons or as Fifteen-Love Club members.
“I have spoken to a few of the Patrons and Fifteen-Love Club members – they've asked me how I'm getting on and how the whole thing is going, and I've said I couldn't ask for much more, to be honest,” he shares. “It's going well, I'm learning, the club is great and really supportive, and Ben is doing a good job. I really couldn’t ask for more.”
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