Every game, practice, loss, and win, does not provide insight into the true impact of the tennis season. For many, tennis is not an easy sport. It requires concentration and a variety of skills. Through playing on the team, the boys were challenged and positively affected mentally and physically.
“ Tennis is a game that requires patience, a lot of focus, and concentration,” said Christopher Lee, junior. Before Christopher played tennis, he frequently played online games and video games. However, after playing on the tennis team for two years, he reflected,“ Those types of activities don’ t help you concentrate. As I played tennis, it helped me focus on more than just tennis- like school life and other areas in my life.”
When asked what each player can take away from the sport, Coach Evans stated,“ Patience with difficult circumstances. In terms of playing, it can be a really difficult sport. Not too many people know that tennis is just so frustrating because it looks like it’ s so slow, or it’ s not as exciting as some other sports.”
Christopher agreed with Coach Evans’ comment that patience is crucial in playing tennis.“ Tennis has really tested my patience and has really helped me in the long run because it has taught me that I have to put in a lot of work to be good at what I want to do.”
Not only the sport improved the players’ patience, it also allowed them to grow mentally. Coach Evans explained the game is“ difficult... you have all of your thoughts processing so quickly” and it forces the players to“ make the right choice and then be able to have the skill to control what you want to do.”
“ Tennis is a mental game that goes on,” said Eric Lee, senior. He agreed his ability to focus got stronger after playing on the team.
In tennis, there is also an option to play doubles. This allowed the players to interact with their partners.“ Tennis is a sports team so there is a lot of collaboration between teammates. That was a huge merit that I could get from the team,” said Justin Hong, senior.“ Tennis helped me to be more of a communicator because you definitely need a lot of communication between your partner.”
Jun Kwon, senior, said some qualities he got from playing tennis were staying motivated, never giving up, and always striving to be better.“ My motivation to keep going is to overcome failure.”
KAIAC CONFERENCE 1 st PLACE
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Top Row: Mr. Evans, Nathan Lee, Christopher Lee, Michael Ahn, Dongin Kwak, Joshua Kim, Mr. Pownall; Bottom Row: Caelan Hodge, Eric Lee, Dash Lee, Rikumu Shigeta, Jun Kwon, Justin Hong, Joonyoung Yoo
KAIAC TOURNAMENT 1 st PLACE
Most Valuable Player Jun Kwon
ALL CONFERENCE Jun Kwon, Dongin Kwak, Eric Lee, Dash Lee
ALL TOURNAMENT Jun Kwon, Dongin Kwak
H o m e G u e s t 4 1 CI 3 2 dhS 1 4 CI 5 0 H HS 5 0 OAHS 5 0 OAHS 5 0 DHS 5 0 H HS
1. Justin Hong serves the ball to start practice after warming up. After a short jog around the tennis court, the players usually practiced hitting the ball on the wall. 2. Dongin Kwak does a forehand swing to pass to his opponent during an after school practice. A forehand swing is one of the most common skills used in tennis. 3. Christopher Lee watches Jun Kwon play against OAHS. He holds up a sign to encourage Jun and also intimidate the opposing player. 4. Dash Lee hits the wall by using a forehand volley. Players hit the ball using a forehand volley when the ball comes at body level.
5. Jun Kwon, Dash Lee, and Dongin Kwak take a break while they have a short time in between games. During breaks, the players eat snacks and talk to each other about how
their games went. 6. In order to smash the ball, Rikumu Shigeta uses a forehand volley during practice. By doing a forehand volley, players can hit winners. 7. Christopher Lee volleys the ball by using a low backhand. A low backhand swing is useful when the ball drops right below the net. 8. Caelan Hodge and Michael Ahn receive water from the tennis team manager, Nathan Lee, in between a match. The manager has to take statistics of each players and must be ready to assist players by preparing a first aid kit and water.
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