Throughout my life, I have participated in Obstacle Course Races and other rigorous physical activity. It was all child's play compared to this tryout.

On Thursday, June 25, the US Open held auditions for ballperson positions, or as they put it, "the coolest summer job in sports." The tennis organization set out to fill about 80 jobs with people of all ages, though those between 14 and 17 years old need special permission from their parents. I participated in the media portion of the tryouts. 

I was confident when I arrived in Flushing and walked into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where legends such as Andre Agassi and Serena Williams thrived. When I first came onto Court 11, I thought it would be a walk in the park since I do a lot of running. It didn't go so well. 

Before embarrassing myself on this tryout, the coaches and others gave us a demonstration. I had the honor of kicking off the tryouts. Luckly, it wasn't as hot as I though it would be. The coaches wanted me to stand on one side of the net with my hands behind while they serve the ball onto the net. After I retrieved the ball, I had to go back to my regular position. I had to do this five straight times without any rest. 

With a body full of energy and adrenaline, I dashed my way towards the ball near the net and actually did pretty decent during that portion of the tryouts. My legs weren't like jello yet.

The second portion of the tryouts was the long toss on the courts. I have played a lot of baseball and had a pretty decent arm. I stood on one side of the court while the coaches were in another. Three balls were heading my way, and when I retrieved all three, I had to throw them back on one bounce. Let's just say that my arm strength needs a bit of work as the ball barely went over the net. 

The third portion of the tryouts was running out ground balls. Having played baseball when I was younger, I thought it was a piece of cake. This is the part where I started to get really exhausted and my knees were starting to give out. 

When the tryout was over, exhausted wasn't even the word. My colleagues, who were in attendance, even laughed at my pitiful attempt to try out. 

Overall, it was a very demanding yet rewarding experience for me. I came into these tryouts thinking it would be easy. I was dead wrong. 

If you want to be a ballboy for the US Open here is a tip: Work on your conditioning!