Tinesta Rowe ... I miss home every day. My family, the way of life, but I don't regret it (the move to Fresno) at all. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

A LITTLE over a decade ago, a young girl from St. Ann followed her brother down to the tennis courts of one of the parish's resorts to hunt down balls and garner a few lessons about a game which was as foreign to her as those whose errant shots she chased.

All legs and arms, she showed a propensity for the sport which was nurtured at Ocho Rios High. She quickly emerged as a junior of some promise and caught the eye of the then Jamaica Lawn Tennis Association's (JLTA) coaches, an organisation which is now known more simply and accurately Tennis Jamaica (TJ).

Further refinement and assistance saw the happy-go-lucky girl from Salem near Runaway Bay rapidly rise up the island's unofficial female rankings. The skill was undeniable, but she was pretty much as raw as they come, and the path to be followed was unclear.

Ten years on from her introduction to tennis, Tinesta Rowe is still pretty much all arms and legs, but her lean frame has stretched to about 5' 10", she's also still happy-go-lucky but that path is now clearly defined by the opportunities raised by the 'foreign' game.

Full scholarship

Rowe, better known as 'Tin Tin', is now entering her junior year on a full scholarship at Fresno State in California as a singles and doubles player on the No. 16-ranked college side in the United States.

Instead of chasing balls from foreigners, she's not only one of them now in the U.S. but also right amid them.

Her successful eight-player team, which reached the Sweet Sixteen at the prestigious NCAA Championships, includes a Canadian, a Russian, a Brazilian and an Australian to complement the local talent.

"We went through the regionals and the first two rounds. We are going to do even better next year because we are the only team which is not losing anybody. We were the only team whose oldest player was a junior.The top teams like Stanford and Georgia are going to lose players," Rowe said of her eclectic team after a recent training session at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston.

"I play number four in singles and number one in doubles with the team's best player, Melanie Gloria of Canada, we also made it to the NCAA individually (as a pair) but lost."

The move from Jamaica's hard courts to college's elite tournament came remarkably quickly and was precipitated by her scholarship to the American Heritage school in Florida from which she was courted by top colleges including Georgia, Texas A&M, Arizona and Louisville, where fellow north coast Jamaican Damar Johnson has shone.

However, far-away Fresno State won her services due to its mainly business programme.

"It was hard to move so far away (from Jamaica) but I just liked the business course at Fresno State and the tennis coach," 21-year-old Rowe said.

"It was really tough leaving Florida because I love it; it's right there from home but I'm happy that I did," she said.

Normal life

Outside of play, practice and study, Rowe leads a normal young woman's life near the town about three hours drive from Los Angeles.

"It's really quiet and surrounded by mountains, I can run across it in 10 minutes," she said of the nearby town. "I hang out with my friends, go to the mall, go on the Internet."

While business is her subject of choice and possibly sports management, Rowe can't envisage herself behind a desk full time and her heart, for now, is still locked upon the courts.

Boasting a strong serve and solid baseline game, Rowe says she will test the professional waters after completing her college obligations over the next two years.

"I want to play tournaments, but they are all over the world and I don't know how I'd find the money for that yet," she said with a laugh and shrug.

Into her early 20s already, any chances of cracking the elite level are as nearly as slim as her body.

Foot, back and knee injuries over her first two years with the Bulldogs have not helped matters but she says she will still try to give it a shot.

Rowe says she doesn't have any tennis heroes, not the ethnically compatible Williams sisters or the more physically similar Maria Sharapova - basically, she just goes out and plays her game which, she says, has become mentally tougher thanks to the college experience.

She's happy to be home now, she says, reclining in her chair during a short break before the Pan-Am Games and other assignments.

"I miss home every day. My family, the way of life, but I don't regret it (the move to Fresno) at all."

In a mere 10 years, Tin Tin has travelled a long way and there is still a long way to go.

From Salem to Kingston to Florida to California is quite a journey in such a short space of time. Where it ends, probably even Rowe doesn't know, but that's the fun part, isn't it?