Like a spinning tennis ball bursting through the strings of a racket, the Johnson tennis program has launched their season with numerous wins and hopes of forming a legacy.
Varsity tennis won their district competition against Canyon High School 10-4 on Aug. 27. It is their goal to win the district championship this year.
“We strongly believe that if we do all the things we’re supposed to do, if everybody stays healthy and nobody’s sick, that through our growth we could be district champions,” head coach Aaron Johnson said.
During a competition, each match won counts as one point. Whichever team reaches 10 points first wins the competition.
“Something really great about tennis is that it’s very individual, [but] in the fall it’s team oriented,” senior captain Grace Stoddard said. “It’s like you have to train to improve your performance as an individual or as a partner in doubles. You have to win for your team and it goes towards an overall score.”
Coach Johnson has motivated the team with their anticipated district championship plaque and the legacy it represents. They use practice matches against other schools to improve their skills and mindsets.
“Just getting them out on the court and encouraging them,” coach Johnson said. “When they have their wins, celebrating those. Giving them opportunities where they aren’t quite successful on the court or in certain drills to keep them challenged so that they don’t falsely assume that they’re at their peak.”
Top players need to restring their rackets up to once a month. The threads can break in the middle when a ball is strong enough and a hit is hard enough.
“A lot of people don’t even realize that you can restring rackets, but the better players are restringing rackets once a month,” coach Johnson said. “I guess it would be akin to a guitar player replacing a string or tuning their guitar. Through the force of hitting it and also the spin that kids put on these days, makes the strings rub across each other. The act of rubbing across, if you’ve ever been fishing and had two lines cross, one line will cut the other.”
Since Johnson changed sports districts, tennis has improved opportunities across the boards. The previous district contained some of the top teams in the state, and prevented qualification past district level.
“It definitely is an easier district; I feel pretty good about it,” junior captain Maia Threatt said. “From what we know of the district, we’ll be definitely closer to the top. If we don’t win, we’re going to learn a lot and we’ll continually improve.”
