Due to some of their best players graduating last year, the boy’s tennis team is facing an imbalance of experienced and inexperienced players in the 2024 spring season
This year’s boys tennis team is made up of a mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.
According to senior Bryan Wu, this season also saw people with different skill sets try out for the team.
“There are also very different abilities on the team right now, too. Some people never picked up a racket before in their life, while other people have been playing for years,” Wu said.
The transition from last year’s season to this year’s season has taken more effort than in past years, according to Wu.
“There are new faces on the team,” Wu said. “We did lose a lot of seniors last year. We had 12 or 13 on the team, and they all have since graduated.”
According to boys tennis coach James O’Neil, this is problematic, and steps need to be taken to rectify the situation.
“Some of [the players] are higher than they normally would be as freshmen and we’re hoping that the experience will help them in the years to come,” O’Neil said. “We just have to adjust our expectations a little bit.”
However, not all aspects of this year’s season are negative.
“Our singles players this year are all juniors, so that’s a good thing that they’ll be back next year,” O’Neil said.
According to O’Neil, the new situation can have some benefits.
“We play off the bat [at the start of the season], so we gain a lot of experience and hopefully, that balances out in some of our non-league matches,” O’Neil said.
According to senior Ryan Ciuba, there were also improvements in other areas.
“The team bonding is a lot better this year,” Ciuba said. “Last year, it kind of just felt like there were different cliques of people and different groups and not everyone got along as one cohesive unit.”
According to sophomore Chris Morganheira, the team dynamic is great as well.
“Everybody’s pretty nice here. Nobody’s overly cocky, just nice to you and they want to have the whole team win,” Morganheira said.
Wu shared a similar outlook.
“I really enjoy the whole communal family aspect of the team,” Wu said.
According to Ciuba, it is important to listen to your coaches.
“The one who’s driven me is Coach Boyd. Whenever I have an issue, I feel like I can go talk to him, and he’s there for me. He’s always been very motivational and very good about keeping a good mindset,” Ciuba said.
Morganheira says that having a good teammate is instrumental in having a great time on the court.
“Wu has been the most accepting person and helped me the most because he knows a lot. He’s been there for all four years,” Morganheira said.