This Fall, there were 40 players on the Girls’ Tennis Teams compared to 27 players last year, making it difficult for each player to get equal opportunities. Athletic Director Bill Klose and the Athletic Department addressed the change. According to Bill, “The only concern is how do we get enough space for them to receive appropriate attention at practices. Part of this solution has been to hire a third coach and Herb [Kerns, Tennis Coach] has developed a system to rotate those who are not on the ladder into a fitness portion of practice.”

This allowed players to get proper help from another coach and take the stress off of the two coaches to help their players. “Secondly, we have been able to rent our Legacy courts for practices when the MS team is on our regular courts. This increases the amount of practice time for everyone,” said Bill.

The last few successful years have contributed to students wanting to participate in a winning program that will allow students to have fun. “Tennis participation is growing in our area. Families recognize that tennis is a life-long sport that can be played forever, so they see the benefit of learning now,” Bill says, “The team has also enjoyed successful seasons the past few years, so that is a fun program to join.” 

The outcome of the high percentage of girls joining the tennis team is a good sign for the future of the Girls’ Tennis Team. “While the team got much larger last year at 20 players, it has nearly doubled with the addition of about 16 freshmen, but over the last two years, interest in girls’ tennis has grown in every grade,” Says Nora Colgan ‘25, captain of the tennis team, “We have had quite a few seniors, juniors, and sophomores.” She also stated, “Just a small uptick in players for the 2023 season allowed us to win the Quaker Cup.” 

Unlike other sports, tennis players have full control over which team they’re on. “Tennis is also different from other sports in that you can utilize challenge matches. If you are on JV, you can challenge a varsity player and the winner of the match is awarded the spot on the varsity ladder,” said Bill.