Andre's Blog 

For the parents and students at the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, this week is back to school week.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the first day of school, is nerves. As a student in the tennis academy, my education was tortured and compromised, an obligation, intended, just to be tolerated, before hitting tennis balls for the rest of the day. It took me longer than most to discover the joy of hearing a teacher bring an idea to life, or the beauty of pouring through the pages of a good book.

Parents have to shake off the nerves, too, as they send their brood off to school, and into someone else’s care. Even teachers feel it, that pit in the stomach, wondering how all those new personalities in class are going to mesh.

But, now I have a new emotion for back to school. Gratitude. I’m thankful that six hundred children will walk through the doors at Agassi Prep this week, and be surrounded with teachers and staff that are committed to their success. They will enter a culture of respect, and will thrive under the high expectations placed on them. They will prepare themselves for a college or university, and beyond.  Something I never could have dreamed of as a child, but now, something that I relish each year at this time.

This has been a tough couple of weeks for education here in Nevada.

We lost someone who was a true friend to our Foundation, and a lifelong friend of education, our former Governor Kenny Guinn. At 73 years young, he was full of life and filled with passion for Nevada's students. With his passing our state has lost a powerful and persuasive voice for education reform. Leaders like Kenny are simple irreplaceable.

The second part of this one two punch came on Tuesday of last week. Nevada was eliminated from consideration of the 'Race To The Top' grant. This means forfeiting about $160 million in Federal funds for our schools. However, in applying for these funds, a great deal of reform has been put on the table in the last six months. It's a start.

Here and across the country, I am hopeful that winds of change are starting to stir. People are embracing reform in Washington, in the press and at the local level across America. It is a movement that calls for more high achieving charter schools in impoverished neighborhoods, for better tools to evaluate and identify good teachers, and for a culture of respect and high expectations in the classrooms. All, values that we cherish at Agassi Prep.

America was once a model for the world in education, and I believe it can be again if we become innovators that challenge the status quo, and reformers willing to reinvent a system that resists change and accountability. Our next generation is a treasure. We must value them enough to equip them, educate them and graduate them.

When I was playing professional tennis, there were a few tournaments that stood out from the rest. The right combination of fans, the surface of the court, the staff, and the city where we would camp for the week, always made the tournament at UCLA one of my favorites. On July 24th I was fortunate enough to go back to UCLA and play a Saturday night match against John McEnroe. The stadium was packed to watch two old guys run and gun and battle it out. However, we weren’t settling old scores, we were raising money for the Agassi Foundation.

It was a light hearted night, beginning with a doubles match that pitted Jim Courier and Jon Lovitz against Gavin Rossdale and Michael Chang. All four wore mic's and the banter alone was priceless. In our singles match, I had a blast pulling old shots out of my playbook, and the crowd ate it up when they saw flashes of Johnny Mac's trusty temper. 

Stefanie and the kids basked in the cool California weather for a few days, and the match raised about a quarter of a million dollars for our kids at Agassi Prep. Now that's what I call a perfect weekend.

Farmers classic

Ninety two years ago a gentle giant was born into the world. A man whose greatest strength and very foundation was the power of his ideas. He believed in freedom, equality and human dignity, and his voice for freedom could not be silenced, even while enduring a cruel twenty seven years of laboring in prison.

Words are so inadequate to describe Nelson Mandela. In fact, when I got to meet him many years ago I literally fumbled for the right words to say. There was humility, a sense of peace that he gave off, a purity of someone who had been tried by fire. That evening with him inspired me and strengthened my resolve to fight injustice and intolerance, and to use the power of education to throw a lifeline to those living in poverty and need.

Happy birthday, Nelson Mandela. Our Foundation will use you as our north star as we give the tools of hope to a new generation.

I've taken more from Gil's gym than I've given to it. Every time I ratchet up my commitment to fitness and health, I feel rewarded in every part of my life. Coming into the hottest months of the year in Las Vegas has reawakened that urge to hit the trails for a good run in triple digit heat for cardio, and hit the weights for strength conditioning and overdue fellowship with my friend Gil. It's amazing how your whole outlook on life improves when you are investing in yourself.

The hardest part of committing to fitness is simply to start. I struggle just like you do, but eating cleaner and staying more fit begins by making a deliberate choice. A choice completely up to us. There is a quote that always inspires me. It is a part of the legacy that coach John Wooden leaves behind, he said, "The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move."

Hallo.

No, that’s not a typo, it’s an informal ‘hello’ from Germany. After a brief stop in London, the Agassi and Graf clans are all together in Germany. Bringing our kids to Germany to make new memories with their cousins and other relatives is something we look forward to all through the year. Times like this remind me to slow down, quiet the cell phone and enjoy the outdoors with the people you love. And yes, we are being blessed with perfect weather.

Stefanie has adopted my family and friends in Las Vegas so wholeheartedly, I love being able to do the same with her circle here in Europe. As you would imagine, she is surrounded by some very special people. Thanks for checking in, I’ll post about some exciting things for the Foundation when I’m back in the States. Now, back to the schnitzel, strudel and the German sunshine.

People were dancing.
The band was whaling.
Joyous yells filled the room.

You might wonder what the occasion was, what event would create such a scene. What else? Graduation day at Agassi Prep.

I am so proud of our second graduating class, and I'm especially grateful for Marsha Irvin, our extraordinary chancellor. Senator Horsford, who has been helping the Agassi Foundation from the beginning, gave a highly inspirational speech. I can't think of a more memorable way to launch our graduates into the future, a future filled with choices.

I want to say thank you to each of you that give of your time, resources and expertise to cultivate the lives of our students. Your commitment and hard work is what makes Agassi Prep a vibrant and life changing place to learn.

It's not every day that a former president comes to your school and lavishes praise on it. But to have it happen several times is really special. On June 10th, Agassi Prep hosted a visit from President Bill Clinton, and we're grateful that for the third time in seven years he has brought attention to our work. Many things contributed to making this a memorable night, including an inspiring version of our National Anthem from senior, AJ Green, a rousing performance from our drum line, and the words of the former President, saying, "we need more schools like this one."

I want to take a moment and say how much I appreciate Chef Susur Lee, who competed this season on Bravo's Top Chef Masters. Each chef chooses an organization to receive the proceeds of the competition, and we're grateful that Susur chose the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education. He not only made it to the finale, but he raised $20,000 for the Foundation. Great work Chef Lee, we look forward to seeing you at the Grand Slam for Children this fall.

I have just returned home from a dizzying, exhausting, thrilling 40 day journey around the world. They call it a book tour, but to me it was something much deeper, much more personal. I felt the need to connect with people, people from every walk of life and in every condition. I needed to echo in person the story of my memoir.

For eighteen months I have been collecting and recollecting my life stories, my process, my lessons learned, usually the hard way, my friends and family, my choices both bad and good, my painful spiral downward and the exhilarating feeling of taking ownership of my life. I wrote honestly, shining a bright light on my actions, my motives, on my soul. I labored over this book intensely for one reason, to inspire and to give hope to people. I wrote to prove that tomorrow can be different, it can be better than today, your courageous choices now can create a life of your choosing in the future. It is never too late for a personal revival.

It began in Las Vegas on November 8th, I then hit New York, Miami, Toronto, San Fran, LA and places large and small in between. Then off to Europe, all the big cities, London, Berlin, Paris, doing interviews and book signings. From the outside it may have looked like the typical book tour, frantic and high profile. But actually inside me it felt like I was closing the loop on a long term dream, a dream to change a life, to make a difference, and now I was seeing in people’s eyes the fulfillment of that dream. Often as people came to the front of the line I could tell even before they spoke that they had read the book, there was a knowing, a glimmer.

Now, I’ll be reconnecting with family, catching up with friends and of course, lots of little league. I hope you check back soon, I have some thoughts about the holidays and the New Year. There are also some exiting new things percolating for the Foundation. They are big and they can make a profound difference in education. I’ll be laying them out here as they take shape.

All the best,

Andre