Coach Sara Professional Tennis Umpire

Hi there, my name is Sara Michelle Giannelli. I am the 2nd oldest out of 9 children in a family living in the lower side of South Carolina. My family is big on the sport of tennis and helping to serve the community through prayer and fellowship. I have been teaching tennis since 2016 and have enjoyed teaching over the years. I always start my classes by asking my students if the need prayer for anything, and more often than not they do. I have found a peace in allowing God to be a part of my daily life and being in everything I do. He answers me when I call on him and never lets me down. 

   In the beginning of my teaching career, I also worked as a professional Line Umpire for pro tennis tournaments including the US Open in 2017 and 2018, and the Western and Southern Open in Ohio in 2019. This provided me the amazing opportunity to travel, meet new people, try new things, and have different experiences that most people do not get the chance to. I can tell you one thing about the US Open, it is a VERY HARD tournament to get hired for. Many people have applied for years and never been selected. It is one of the most desired and prestige tournaments to work. All umpires have their flight and hotel paid for, buses shuttle you to and from the site, and breakfast and lunch are provided. This is the top tier tournament to work in the US. In my first year of umpiring in 2017 I put in my application and was hired. In 2018 I submitted my application and was hired, and in 2019 I was set to go flight and hotel were booked roommate was picked out and all was set.

Then the Lord told me to quit and start teaching tennis full time. During my travels I would coach whenever I was in town, and the schedule would change from month to month, but I knew The Lord was calling me to move into it full time. So, I wrote an email to the head referee for the US Open and told him what God told me to do and that I wouldn't be coming back. This would be a shock to most. A 21 year old getting the opportunity of a lifetime and rejecting it because God said? 

I believe there is something special to be said about being obedient to the will of God and whatever he tells you to do. He knows the future and the safest way to get me where he wants me to be. I know that He is my Father and would never purposefully make a decision that would not benefit me. Everything He does is for my good. I know it is hard to trust Him and His plan but always remember this..... Jeremiah 29: 11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart,