The author's 16-year-old son Macklin has been focused on playing high-level Division I college tennis since age 5, after initially showing a preference for tennis over other sports at summer camp. The family spends an estimated $50,000 per year on tennis expenses, with the father doing much of the organizational and travel work. According to Tom Farrey's research from the Aspen Institute, the average sports parent spends nearly three and a half hours per day on their child's sports activities.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-31,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Macklin 16-year-old junior tennis player has been training intensively to play high-level Division I college tennis. His father, Joe Nocera, writes about his son's dedication, noting that Macklin has given up many teenage freedoms, including dating and favorite foods like hamburgers and desserts. To focus on tennis, Macklin left a prestigious high school, Fordham Prep, in January to attend an online school that allows him to train for 4-5 hours a day instead of just a few hours a week. He also spends time away from home at tennis academies in Spain, Florida, and Maryland. Despite his parents' initial efforts to have him try other sports, Macklin has stuck to tennis since he was 5 years old.
Written for “Sports Dads' Parenting Pride” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 3393 · logged 2026-08-31
When my son Macklin was 5 years old, my wife and I enrolled him in one of those summer sports camps for tots.
asserted
wife → enrol → tots
You know the kind: A child is introduced to tennis one week, soccer the next, baseball the week after that, and so on.
asserted
child → know → that
But after swinging a tennis racket during his first week at the camp, Macklin told us he didn’t want to play soccer or baseball; he wanted to stay with tennis.
asserted
he → swing → tennis
Despite our intermittent efforts to persuade him to try another sport, he stuck to his guns.
asserted
he → persuade → guns
Here we are, 11 years later, and Macklin is a 16-year-old junior tennis player with a singular goal: to play high-level Division I college tennis.
asserted
Macklin → play → tennis
He plays a tournament at least twice a month.
asserted
He → play → tournament
In January, he left an excellent high school, Fordham Prep, for an online school that would allow him to train for four or five hours a day instead of four or five hours a week.
asserted
him → leave → hours
He has given up hamburgers, desserts, and lots of other foods most teenagers love.
asserted
teenagers → give → foods
He works out with a personal trainer a few times a week.
asserted
He → work → trainer
He spends long stretches of time away from home at serious tennis academies in Spain, Florida, and Maryland.
asserted
He → spend → Spain
I find myself in awe of his dedication.
asserted
myself → find → dedication
Then again, as his parents, my wife and I have become pretty dedicated ourselves.
asserted
wife → become → parents
We call ourselves Team Mack.
asserted
We → call → ourselves
I can’t bring myself to calculate how much we’ve spent on tennis, but it has to be upward of $50,000 a year.
asserted
it → bring → tennis
My wife, Dawn, who ran marathons for years—and is thus attuned to what an athlete needs—takes the lead on ensuring Mack is in the right physical shape to handle the rigors of tournament tennis, which for a junior player can sometimes mean four matches a day: two singles and two doubles.
asserted
which → run → matches
I scour the tournament schedule, looking for options that will challenge him and help improve his rating, a critical measure for college coaches.
asserted
that → scour → coaches
And I’m the one who travels with him most of the time.
asserted
who → ’m → time
Tom Farrey, who runs the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, told me recently that his program conducted research a few years ago showing that the average sports parent spends almost three and a half hours a day on their kid’s sports.
asserted
parent → run → sports
My first reaction was, That’s not us!
asserted
That → ’ → ?
But then I thought about it some more.
asserted
I → think → it
After factoring in everything from washing Mack’s tennis clothes to getting his rackets re-strung to spending a weekend at one of his tournaments, I had to concede that Dawn and I probably do spend that much of our lives on his tennis.
asserted
Dawn → factor → tennis
