New Players Double With Alumni As Girls Tennis Season Nears
ERIC HUANG
Sports Editor
The new girls tennis season has began and the team has been hard at practice. To many, this is not all too significant, but to the Alhambra varsity girls tennis team, the start of another season means the beginning of a new chapter in Alhambra Tennis. After coming off of an undefeated, 11-0 season last year and making it to the second round of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs, the team hopes to better themselves from their performance last year.
“We’ve been working hard all summer long for three hours everyday so that we can improve as individuals and as a team,” captain Amy Kim said, “we hope to win another league championship title and go to CIF playoffs once again.”
As usual, the team will spend the majority of their pre-season practices working on their conditioning, as well as everything from serves and returns, to volleys and cuts. As with every sport, it is the little things that will ultimately make the biggest difference when the time comes to play matches. In addition to regular drills, many of the doubles players will have to go through the vital process of finding the right chemistry with their partners.
However hard these preseason practices may be, the team is not alone. Former players have been coming to the team’s daily practices in an effort to help the newer athletes become accustomed to a higher level of play, and make the process of returning to in-season form as smooth as possible. For the three hour timespan of practice, these alumni have “player coaches” toward the young athletes. In this role, the former players have been able to provide the current players with advice and tips that is easy to listen to. With the start of the new season participated in various drills along with the current athletes, and have provided the team with a share of the knowledge that they have accumulated through their previous playing days. Having played the same sport for the same school, these alumni currently serve as the relatable near, the presence of these alumni eases the nervousness that the athletes have.
“I know these girls have the potential to be successful, and they are trying hard to step up,” alumni Nguwar Khine said. “Being new to varsity definitely comes with stress and I hope that I can help ease that.”
Maintaining an undefeated 4-0 record, the team has been successful in the preseason thus far, and have come a long way since their summer practices began. Even though the players might not have enjoyed waking up every day over the summer to go to practice, they know that as the regular season comes and the important games come to play, their hardwork and effort over the summer will definitely pay off.
“Having the alumni players here to help us out with our game really helps us because we can find a relationship with them,” junior Sandy Jiang said. “It’s easier for us to learn and improve our skills because we know they they experienced the same things that we did.”
For each player, being able to share the practice court with a former player is definitely special. The team still has a long way to go before the beginning of the regular season, and they still have the opportunity to grow both as a team and as individuals. Many of the players are playing their first year on the varsity level, and although this transition might difficult, it is something that can be accomplished. As they keep up with their daily practice routine, the 2016 Alhambra girls tennis team is poised for a successful season. Having already won their first four preseason games, the Lady Moors are continuing to practice more for their upcoming league matches. The Lady Moors will next travel to Temple City on Wednesday to take on the Rams.