As Santa Maria’s Troy Lara stepped onto the court for the finals of the recent Summer Slam’s Men’s A Singles match, the crowd could only see one of his opponents. About 78 feet away stood Shawn Porter of Arroyo Grande. Lara’s other opponent—nerves—hung on his shoulder whispering in his ear, reminding him of the last two times he was in this position.
When he was 19, this former football and basketball player picked up a racquet. Now 25, he hasn’t stopped rallying. It’s the 1-on-1 aspect of the game he likes. He’s solely responsible for his wins and losses.
“You don’t make excuses,” he said. “You play as hard as you can every point.”
He’s now competing in the 4.5 to 5.0 level and feels like he can compete at the open level. He admits that nerves are the hardest part of the game for him. He’s confident he can go further, but to do so he needs to get comfortable facing off against higher-level players. Despite his drive to go forward, the pro circuit isn’t even on his radar.
“I feel that’s pretty unrealistic,” he said. “I like to see how far I can push myself.”
He feels he still has at least 10 good years of play left.
Lara classifies himself as a defensive player relying on his instincts from football to help him get to the ball. He doesn’t try to control the game; he’s a “counter puncher.” He says it’s easier to play defensively. Not one to be content with what’s easy, however, he recognizes the need to heed Vince Lombardi’s advice about defense. Lara has begun pushing himself to be a more consistently aggressive offensive player.
As a kinesiology major at Cal Poly, with a focus on teaching, his dream is to work with young athletes, focusing on physical training and player development. He believes that intense competition at young ages is the only way for a young athlete to be competitive, to grow stronger and more fit.
Lara will be returning to school in a few weeks and doesn’t play much during the term. He’s still on the fence about playing in the upcoming Avila Bay Club tournament.
Troy has been coached by Jeff Spalinger at Allan Hancock College.
“He teaches the game the way it should be played, as far as being respectful and giving it your all,” Lara said of Spalinger.
Another player Lara looks up to, figuratively, is Danny Castro of San Luis Obispo: [He’s] “a little bit smaller than me, but he plays at the highest level.”
Lara gave a valiant effort, but in the end he walked away from the Summer Slam with his third second-place finish, but in the end he was only beaten by one opponent. He refuses to let the streak hinder his game.
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2011.