You couldn’t meet a nicer young man on the planet! I had the privilege of photographing rising tennis star Ryan Young the other day. His speed and accuracy amazed me. But his easy going personality and grounded faith are what really impressed me. It was just a year ago this week that Ryan was heading off to China to kick off his pro career. He was a stand-out player at Clemson and joined with Nathan Thompson to form the best doubles team in the ACC. He also played in an exhibition match at the Family Circle Cup as a warm up to stars Andy Roddick and the #1 doubles team in the world, Bob & Mike Bryan. I was glad to be able to catch up with Ryan while he was home visiting his family for the holidays.

Ryan’s Mom, Toni, is the head pro at the Maybank Tennis Center where I played on the Men’s USTA 4.5 team before getting sidelined with an injury last year. Prior to that I played on Jeff’s 4.0 Team…Jeff is Ryan’s Dad. Ryan’s sister, Kristen (not pictured) is also an avid club player. So tennis vibes are obviously in the family’s blood…as are honor, commitment, integrity, patience, excellence, and many other personality traits that make it easy for me to see why this young man is going places!