Vlog In Production // Tournaments Schedule (and How BCH Community Helped To Make It!) // BitcoinCash-Mobile on European Roads (WHAT???)
Hello, BitcoinCash community! This is Oleksandra Oliynykova, your tennis player, calling.
First of all, I would like to say "thank you!" to all BCH people who supported me & my team this week. That was truly amazing to see messages, tweets and contributions from around the world -Japan, Turkey, Canada, the Philippines, the U.S., and also a lot of undisclosed places ;-).
Not to sound too dramatic - but having you in my virtual "player's box" has already helped me a lot! For instance, now I can start my tennis season with the bigger tournaments I would probably not to play otherwise. I will write more on this matter below, under "Tournaments Schedule (and How BCH Community Helped To Make It)" chapter.
So, without further ado, let me present some important news & info on our project.
1. Vlog In Production
That's gonna be interesting - my promise. We have already started to work on my vlog called "Game, Set, Bitcoin Cash". It will be focused on two main things:
A. The real life of a professional athlete.
B. How Bitcoin Cash makes it easier, more convinient & efficient.
I will make new episodes locally and while on the go - so it might be the first Bitcoin-Cash-themed travel vlog as well!
Practices and matches, departures and arrivals, successes and fails, paying with Bitcoin Cash wherever I can, onboarding new people and merchants and - of course! - some contests and giveaways - this is what we plan to include in the "Game, Set, Bitcoin Cash" episodes.
The first issue of the vlog is scheduled for next Monday, 22 March. It will be published on my official LBRY channel, and featured here on read.cash.
Please do not judge me too strictly, as I am not a professional vlogger - but I will try to put as much interesting content into my vlog as I can. Stay tuned!
2. Tournaments Schedule (and How BCH Community Helped To Make It!)
To play on the biggest tennis stadiums of the world - like the Wimbledon's All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club or the US Open's Flushing Meadows - any player should go through lower-level tournaments selection first.
Well, you can avoid this duty - if you are "a corporate player" having a money pillow of a big sports corporation like IMG pushing you forward. Or you are a kid of a billionaire parent what I am definitely not.
In all other cases you need to start from zero (literally - having 0 ranking points), then collecting points here and there to find yourself higher & higher in the ranking, gradually reaching a list of top-200 world best players - which gives you an opportunity to play Grand Slam tournaments qualifications.
But here comes the huge problem - most of my fellow tennis players stucked at lower-level events can`t overcome for years.
All independent - not signed by major sports corps - tennis players are like free entrepreneurs (or "independent contractors"). We do not have a salary from a club or federation. Our primary source of income is prize money we win on tournaments.
If I win a match or two on a lower-level event, I can pay my plane tickets & hotel bills for this tournament. If I win more, I can put something aside to cover the costs of training & preparation at my training base.
If I win extra more - like a title, better in singles and doubles :-) - I can make some cash reserve in case I decide to try playing stronger, more competitive high-level events.
But it is very destructive to play under constant financial pressure. In fact, this is more painful than most of injuries tennis players have - all the time asking myself: "What if I lost today? How will I pay for the hotel? How will I pay my team during the next preparation cycle? How will I travel to my next tournaments?"
Furthermore, going to higher-level events, you must - by default - accept higher financial risks. This means you lost in early rounds, earning from small to nothing. You can be very well prepared - but meet a slightly better player, have an unlucky day or simply get a small injury which prevents you from performing your best tennis that day.
Then, one more question appears: "Should I play weaker tournaments, having financial dots connected somehow BUT NEVER REACHING the levels of play I could possibly do - or should I try to play stronger tournaments, but accepting immediate risks of losses, both in my game and my budget?"
What is the solution of this problem? Actually, it is very simple - to play stronger tournaments, at least several of them, without having money issues as a problem. As in our sports you can win only if you don't panickly afraid to lose.
Only in these conditions your hand will fly, and your legs will run fast.
And here we come to the most exciting part of this chapter!
During this week, among a lot of warm and supportive words & messages, I received several BCH contributions. Summing all of them together - it is enough to pay for flight tickets & hotel to travel to Portugal and play a serie of two strong tennis tournaments, having most of the travel costs already covered.
First time in a very long period, may be several years or so, I will play tennis on a tournament without being scared to lose and fell into immediate financial problems.
I will concentrate on my forehands and backhands, serves and returns - instead of thinking how I pay for the hotel if I won't win today.
So, I am extremely happy & proud to announce my April tournament schedule, which made possible by sincere & surprising help of BCH community, the most welcoming & supportive community in the cryptouniverse :-):
Week of 12 April 2021:
W60 Oeiras, Oeiras Ladies Open 60 - Obeiras, Portugal (Clay)
Week of 19 April 2021:
W25 Oeiras, Oeiras Ladies Open 25 - Obeiras, Portugal (Clay)
Week of 26 April 2021
W60 Zagreb, Zagreb Ladies Open 2021 - Zagreb, Croatia (Clay)
During all the tournaments I will wear the Bitcoin Cash-branded tennis outfit & accessories - to make the brand as visible as it deserves!
3. BitcoinCash-Mobile on European Roads (WHAT???)
Please meet the BitcoinCash-Mobile which will appear on European roads soon!
Surprised? Let me explain. Last year we have completed our long-dreamed project of converting an old cargo van into a small, but cosy camper van. The van actually managed to make two trips even under all the COVID limitations: one to Greece and Turkey, another to France!
It has all we need to travel to tennis tournaments: a comfortable bed, a kitchen with a fridge and a propane stove, a shower with hot water, an autonomous electricity supply etc.
In the Youtube video below (pretty long - almost 1 hour - watch only if you have some free time) made by our friends and project contractors exploration_brothers, you can watch the whole process, from the scratch to the finishing touches.
By coincidence or not, our van is ALREADY GREEN.
So what we need to do is to wrap it with some nice Bitcoin Cash logos, pictures, website addresses - to attract maximum attention in any residential area we will be travelling through :-)!
Be ready, Europe, BitcoinCash-mobile is coming!
We won't be probably able to travel to Portugal in April, as the van requires some minor investments we are not immediately ready to cover (like buy new tyres, update yearly insurance etc). But we expect this to be done in May, so my summer tournament travels will be made using the one & only BitcoinCash-Mobile!
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That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed it, just like me.
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