[tennisbiz] Re: State Tournaments - Individual and Team

I have just finished my 12th year with High School Tennis - as a parent. In
our State, Wisconsin, HS Girls is in the Fall - Boys in the Spring, having
both an Individual State Championship and a Team State
Championship.(different days) This allows the highly talented players to
compete with the best in the state in the Individual State and then allows
all levels depending on the depth of the team to compete at Team State.
Points are accumulated during final Conference play, sub-sectional and
sectionals to determine who goes to state - both individually and with the
team. Therefore whenever a player is competing the results are recorded for
both Team points and Individual points. If the goal of high school tennis is
to allow every player to compete at their level, this type of two
championships works well. I have watched a #3 singles player be the player
to win the deciding match. Draw back - some coaches "mess" with line-ups not
always placing players by ability in corresponding spots. Final point - this
allows many more players to have a State Experience. This Team State
experience allows a feeling for the players as truly playing on a team as in
college tennis. My children played basketball, volleyball, and soccer and
one reason for their liking each of those sports was the camaraderie they
felt with teammates. One of the kids is playing college tennis and came in
understanding the commitment to her college teammates as "cheerleader" since
she learned this through Team State. My youngest is presently making her
college decision and playing tennis on a "team" is a big part of her
decision.

 
Received on Mon Oct 29 2001 - 22:45:41 CST