I play a sport that doesn’t always have refs or umps on the court. Shocking, I know, and because of that statement, the number one question I get from people is, “So people can cheat and get away with it?” with the most perplexed expression on their face. I unfortunately have to answer yes and say, “That’s just the way it goes.”

I have always wondered how in a game like tennis can you teach the importance of showing integrity and being honest with not just your opponent, but yourself as well. In any sport, kids grow up right away and get caught up in the competition and wanting to win everything. Often times, being honest goes right out the window when it dwindles down to winning or losing a game. I’m not saying that EVERY person that ever plays tennis is a cheater. On the contrary, I have met so many tennis players that are incredibly nice and more importantly, some of the most honest people I have ever encountered. All I’m saying is that this is a reality in the game of tennis. It just happens. We all make mistakes (yes, including me).

You’re probably thinking, "it can’t be that hard to employ average Joe’s to ref a tennis match." But think about it. There are several junior and adult tennis tournaments that occur each weekend in almost all 50 states. Not only do you have to think about the juniors, but also the collegiate tennis players. Now most D1 schools will have one ref on their court, but those are typically for D1 schools in either the Pac-12 or SEC. Most D1 schools that aren’t in those big name conferences have typically max at a total of 4 refs. When you look at D2 or D3 schools, they will usually have a total of 1 ref for 9 matches. Just 1. For national level tournaments (adult, junior, and college), then they begin to bring more refs out on court (that’s only if you get to that level of course). Still, constantly being able to have refs out on every single tennis court in America is just extremely difficult and almost unpractical.

So cheating. It’s a real thing in tennis. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and people will do whatever they can to win. When there are no refs on your court, it is up to you to make the call. Notice how I didn’t say the RIGHT call because winning by cheating a few points here and there is a reality. It is probably the worst when you lose to someone who cheated their way to victory. You can call the ref to your court, but they don’t always stay. So what happens as soon as they leave the court? You get cheated on again. I don’t blame the refs for leaving because they have to go tend to 6 other courts that may be having conflicts. In every other sport, there are refs or umps constantly watching every move of an athlete to make a call on a foul or who has possession of the ball. Not in tennis.

The reason I titled this article being honest versus being a winner is because there is a difference. This goes for any sport really. If you’re an honest person, there are just going to be times when you don’t always win, but I always find it a personal victory if you are honest to yourself and your opponent during an entire match or game. When I say “being a winner,” people will do just about anything to win. Sometimes, that means that playing honestly isn’t always a priority. There will be times when refs or umps make a bad call, but if you know what really happened, say something. Be honest. I constantly tell myself to be honest with my own self and others because that is a better win than any other tennis win you can have.