Henman and Hill

We have all heard the news that Tim Henman is due to retire from competitive tennis at the end of September.
After a 13 year career and 11 titles he has done exceptionally well.
It must be so difficult for sportsmen and women.
They dedicate their youth to improving their game and have such a limited time to prove themselves.
To retire from a sport that has been your life, when you are only 32, must be incredibly difficult.
The adrenaline rush of a finals match will be a difficult feeling to learn to live without.
Although I'm sure he stall has a lot to offer the game and future generations.

How different to the life of a musician.
For classical musicians particularly, at 32, you are only just getting going.
It's the complete reverse of the situation in which sportsmen find themselves.

Henman is retiring for many reasons.
Age is only one of them, he also has a persistent back problem, and it is impossible to compete at the level he plays unless in the peak of fitness.

But the other reason he cites is the imminent birth of his third child.
Years of travelling the tennis circuit require lengthy periods of time away from home.
That is incredibly difficult.
It is however also a situation that the families of musicians have to face.
Robin has spent the day in final preparations for his next trip, and I have been folding shirts and packing his case.
At least we got most of the school holidays with him at home which has been a rare treat.

But at least Robin knows that his career doesn't have to end purely because of age.
Hopefully he will have many, many, more years to use the skills he has spent so long achieving.