The Boy’s tennis team is off to a strong start and looking forward to having a successful season with only two seniors gone they have a lot of experience and skill ready for this upcoming season.
Mason Alvarado is a junior and has been playing tennis since his freshman year at Ridgeview. He began playing because his great grandma played tennis and she wanted him to get into the sport. “I was the only family member who did so, that’s why I’m in tennis,” Alvarado stated. When asked about the program and coaching staff Alvarado stated, “We have a really great coach, coach Rice, she supports us and gives us pointers all the time.” Some negatives Alvarado believes about the team this year is that some people don’t care enough, “Don’t stay or practice right, they don’t put in the leg work and don’t have the determination of grit.” Out of all the teams in league Alvarado believes BCHS is the toughest school they will face because they have all been playing tennis for a long time. His goal for this season is as simple as to win, he wants to beat Independence, BHS ,and at the least score a point against BCHS. What separates this year’s team from last is that, ”We’re determined.” Mason claims he would always hold back previous seasons, but this year he is not holding back. To anyone considering joining tennis Alvarado says you should join, “It’s a hard sport but it’s a fun sport”.
Jaziel Nava Is also a junior and has been playing tennis just shy of three years. Some positives he sees in the program is that it’s a really good way to get in shape and a great way to meet new people and make new friends. A drawback to the program is that it can get expensive, tennis equipment is pricey, shoes can be towards 100 dollars, and rackets can be really expensive as well. He most enjoys winning and how intense the games can get and he doesn’t like getting dominated. Some goals he has is, “To remain undefeated in singles like he currently is.” One of the best experiences he had while playing tennis was winning a doubles match with Kevin Coral. “This year our team is really solid, we have a lot of good players,” Nava stated . His biggest strength is his speed and his serves which is a key factor in determining the tone of the match. His biggest weakness is his back injury which can affect some movements and make them not as quick. To someone who is considering tennis he says, “You don’t need to worry about equipment and we can give you donners for a little bit”.
Ridgeview’s head tennis coach Laura Rice has coached tennis for 25 years with the girl’s and 19 years with the boy’s. The team did okay last year, “I think we ended up somewhere in the middle to bottom of the league but we did pretty good in some tournaments and things like that,” stated Rice. Some goals she has for this season is to be able to beat Independence and Highland and at least give BCHS and BHS a good match if not beat them. Some strengths in the team this year is that she has a few who have worked hard in the summer and she has seen improvement in their skills so she’s hoping to see that come out on the court when they play their matches. A weakness is, “We’re still trying to figure out what works for us sometimes” One goal she has for all her players is, “To have some success on the court and be pleased with the way their season ends up and of course get some wins.” Something important she learned is that, “There’s a lot of things going on in the boy’s life and I had to learn to be more flexible and learn tolerance and I also learned from the kids’ experience and their excitement.”
We look forward to watching our boy’s tennis team led by Coach Rice be on their way to a successful season and improve from last year.
