At the age of 5, junior Brandon Burr stepped on to the tennis court for the first time. Thirteen years later, he found himself forced to make a choice between the sport he loved and his aspirations as a student.

With his senior year of high school tennis behind him and an All-State selection to his name, Burr turned down offers from colleges calling for his athletic services. Now, he is rejuvenating his tennis career on the international stage by way of the Maccabi Games, an Olympics-style event designed to celebrate Jewish culture around the world.

Like most graduating high school seniors, Burr had an important decision to make about his future. Unlike his fellow students, however, Burr’s choice was especially difficult.

“Out of high school I had offers to play at other schools,” Burr said. “But I really wanted to focus on getting a good education so that I’d have a better chance of going to medical school, and Illinois gave me the best opportunity to do that.”

In choosing his education over his tennis career, Burr was forced to decline offers from Division-III schools such as Carthage and DePauw, as well as abandon a competitive outlet that he truly cherished.

“I wanted something where I could really compete,” Burr said. “I would have loved to play college tennis, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my education.”

After two years of struggling to keep his involvement in the sport at a personally acceptable level, Burr’s luck changed with a single phone call.

On the other end of the line was Fred Cohen, a family friend and the vice chairman of the Maccabi Games, who was ready to offer Burr a spot on the U.S. national team when they travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December.

For Burr, the opportunity to participate in the games was a perfect chance for him to reignite his competitive spirit, as well as explore tennis on an international level.

“I think it’s such an amazing opportunity to be able to travel internationally,” Burr said. “I’ve never been to South America before so that’ll be a first. It’ll be awesome to explore their culture and compete at an international level.”

With 14 countries fielding teams in the event, the opposition will not exactly be pushovers for Burr, who sought a training regimen that would adequately prepare him over the next few months.

Enter Shaun Peterson, a three-year member of the instructional staff at Atkins. Burr spends five days a week working with Peterson, who has developed a regimen to fine tune Burr’s overall game.

“We work mainly on hitting,” Peterson said. “But we also have some private lessons as well where we try to clean up his game. Other than that, it’s a lot of hitting, a lot of points and then drilling as well. His work ethic is very strong.”

Burr has also found ways to integrate his passion for sports into the educational pursuits that drew him away from tennis. As a kinesiology major, Burr has been exposed to a different side of athletics and sees a future in the field as a distinct possibility.

“I have to take the pre-med classes in order to go to medical school, but being a kinesiology major, I focus on sports medicine as well,” Burr said.

“Being a team doctor would be really cool.”

For now there is a more immediate task at hand as the Maccabi Games draw near, and the same collected, level-headed demeanor that led Burr to take chances in the past promises to guide him to success in Buenos Aires.

“I don’t feel nervous at all,” Burr said. “I’m loose right now. I’m not worrying about losing early or playing poorly, I’m just there to have a good time, and win obviously, but I’m not afraid to compete against anyone internationally. I feel like I’ll be ready and it’ll be an awesome experience.”