HEHS boys tennis sets sights on successful season

Nivedhaa Naresh Kumar, Staff Editor

The athletes on this year’s boys tennis team are looking forward to an awesome season filled with memories and success. As COVID restrictions and limitations dissipate, a different season from last year is an overall aspiration from the team. 

“To be fair, no one enjoyed last year’s tennis season because of the fact that COVID pushed many of our players away and imposed heavy restrictions that limited what we could do,” said Devanshu Pandya, sophomore. “However, one of my fondest memories would be the long bus rides that the team would take to every away match.”

With JV and Varsity’s first match being less than two weeks away, the topic of individual and collective goals were discussed heavily. The ambition and dedication appears to be prevalent in this year’s team.

“Personally I need to work on thinking about the shots that I make and think about what works for me and what doesn’t,” said Dhruv Jain, junior. “I also need to work on putting less pressure on myself because sometimes; it causes me to lose my games.” 

Abhiraj Seela, sophomore, agrees. “I definitely want to improve my groundstrokes, get more topspin and have a more reliable serve. Whatever it is though, I just want to improve from last season.” 

Whatever sport an individual may be involved in, the concept of community and being a “team” is important to most. Having a close knit bond with your teammates brings not only a sense of support, but it brings more cherishment and happiness to the table. 

“My favorite thing about tennis would be my teammates, who I know well outside the season and school,” said Pandya. “Having close friends on the team with you introduces healthy competition that is not only beneficial to the team, but to ourselves as well; it makes practices far more enjoyable.” 

Seela agrees. “I just like how despite tennis being an individual sport, everyone really acts as a team.” 

As the elements of friendship and ambition are discussed by this team, the coaches talk about their specific goals for this season. 

“I am looking forward to senior leadership to step up and lead,” said Ken Harris, Boys Tennis Head Coach. “Overall, my hopes and aspirations are for the team to continue to learn how to compete.” 

“This season, I’m looking forward to the team improving in their competitiveness. We have a pretty deep team this season and our athletes are fighting for positions like never before throughout the varsity and junior varsity levels,” said Edgar Ramirez, assistant coach. “It motivates our guys to put in extra work to earn a spot in our starting line-ups and it only helps our team get better so that we compete at a higher level in house.” 

The new season definitely has a lot of hopes and aspirations, stemming not only from the players, but the coaches too. 

” Ultimately, I want our athletes to love playing tennis and realize they are picking up a lifetime sport that can be a fun outlet for any stress they may experience,” Coach Ramirez added.