Cancellation of the spring tennis season last year has become motivation for competitive playing this season
by Kassidy Hart–With the national spread of the Coronavirus in March came the cancellation of spring sport seasons, disappointing athletes all across campus. For some teams, like Morningside Tennis, the season was just beginning to pick up. Both the men and women tennis teams were actually in Florida, competing, at the time they received news of the cancellation.
“The worst thing was the way in which the GPAC announced it, as it was a simple text saying ‘Sorry, no season this spring for you guys,’” sophomore Aleks Sadowska said.
Even though they were awaiting the news in an anxious environment, the players knew in that moment they had to be present and play like it was their last meet of the season.
“I remember going into our last match down in Orlando and talking to Jesus, our captain and only senior last year, and just being like ‘Well, this may be it, so let’s make it count,’” senior Jory Opp said.
The cancellation wasn’t just rough and confusing for players, but for their first-year head coach as well.
“I felt like it was a missed opportunity for us as a team. We had two competitive teams that could compete well in our conference. It was tough,” Coach Michael McLaughlin said.
Despite the unfortunate events of last semester, athletes are finding this season to be a new year all together and are looking at that as a positive.
“Losing the spring season was hard to hear because I worked hard spring break and earned a spot to play doubles, just to have it all go away. But going into this season, I’m a lot more confident with myself and know that me and my team are ready to compete at our fullest,” sophomore Jay’Von McKinney said.
This confidence stems from not only the practices they have already started, but the physical conditioning some of them chose to do on their own during the summer.
“I actually motivated myself to do weekly runs, trying to run at least a mile a day for a few days a week. I did some workouts at home, just from YouTube or sports apps, and when the courts finally opened, I practiced some technique and tried to hit with my family. Additionally, I was biking a lot with my brother, as he was off of swimming for a while. I am really glad I did that, as I already feel better while conditioning,” Sadowska said.
Practices have since begun and students have continued to show their commitment to the upcoming season by working hard and not dwelling on the previous cancellations. Even though some matches have already been postponed or cancelled for the fall, the players feel motivated to overcome the adversity and play to the best of their abilities.
“This season started off more intense than any other season so far. With five players returning under Coach McLaughlin, we all are brought in and ready to go right away. I expect us to compete against everybody this season and at all six spots. The best part about playing tennis is how you really do control your own destiny at times,” Opp said.
Leave a Reply