When I played on the University of Kansas’ Men’s Tennis Team in the mid 80s, our coach, Scott Perelman, would identify members of the team that he thought were “jungle team performers”. What this meant was that he believed certain players that exemplified the above-mentioned characteristics could be counted on to fight and persevere through extenuating circumstances. In this case, it was fighting and willing yourself to win for the program. The team would create the scenario that we were all going to be dropped from a plane into a fierce jungle under combat-like conditions and the question then became: Who could you count on to survive as well as help others survive? We all wanted to be thought of as jungle-worthy. I think anyone would take pride in having their peers choose them as someone they would count on to help them when the going got tough. This is a concept that has always stayed with me. The best competitors as well as the best leaders have all genuinely related to the “jungle concept”. It’s incredibly telling in sport and in life to see who everyone would put on their own “all jungle teams”. It’s the truest evaluation there is. We’ve chosen to highlight the performances that fit this standard because it takes such a personal sacrifice to put everything you have into something. We want our players to experience what it feels like to be fully engaged in competition. This is how you build character, confidence, and instill pride. Having an “all jungle performance” is something you won’t forget. Being on someone else’s “all jungle team” is something that you will always remember.

Coach Wolf

>> View All Jungle Performances (As of April 13, 2008)