Tennis is a very unique sport compared to other ones offered at Lee’s Summit High School. Many people growing up play or watch sports like football, basketball, and baseball with racket sports like tennis being unfamiliar. This can make the sport intimidating but tennis is actually not as hard as you might think.

“People think you have to be good at tennis to try out but you can just come out and have fun with us.” Junior Jaxson Holman said.

Most people believe tennis isn ot helpful with playing other sports, but junior Braeden Curless disagrees

“It’s helped me a lot with footwork, with like football.” Curless said 

A tennis match can be pretty hard to follow, so this is how a tennis player would describe a typical match.

“A normal game for varsity is going to be first to eight, win by two, and if it’s eight to eight you’re going to a tiebreaker. For JV it’s the same thing but to six, and for C team it’s the same thing but to four.” Sophomore Diaa Amellal said.

Practicing tennis can be a lot more complex than just hitting the ball back and forth.

“There’s a lot of messing around, but you get work done. Like the coaches don’t really care as long as you’re working.” Curless said.

Playing tennis has changed a lot for people, but while changing one’s skill at tennis it has also changed people’s life outside of the sport.

“I have met more people that I have something in common and have become good friends with.” Holman said.

A lot of great tennis moments are while two players are battling it out on the court, but there are also great moments outside of the court with teammates.

“We have team dinners and they are a lot of fun and we get closer as a team.” Holman said.

There are many challenges while being on the tennis court, but here’s Amellal’s biggest challenge.

“For tournaments, you miss a day, so you have to get caught up on that. During a tennis match, like if you’re down you’ll get angry at yourself but you just have to stay calm and assess the situation.” Amellal said.

Most people are nervous about adding another sport to their schedule because of all the practices and off-season work.

“We aren’t as strict in the off-season and we are willing to work with other sports schedules.” Jaxson said.

A group of sports players are usually very close and tennis is no different.

“It’s a very close-knit group, and we all back each other up.” Curless said.

COVID was really hard on most people, but it also shined a light on some people’s passion.

“In seventh grade during the pandemic, I picked up a racket and thought it was pretty fun. Then I just couldn’t wait to play my freshman year, and I found out that the coaches are nice, and it’s a nice program.” Amellal said.