Q: What can girls expect from the opening few weeks of practice?
A: I think the girls should expect a lot of conditioning in the first few weeks. My hope is that when we start on March 1, the girls would have kept up some sort of workout schedule over the winter. I know that may be a lot to expect, considering the weather we have had recently. The first few weeks will also give me the opportunity to get to know the girls and see what their strengths are and to build from there.
Q: How do you hope to build interest in AHS tennis?
A: I hope to build interest in tennis at Appo by what we accomplish in the first season. I plan on making the season as fun as possible for the girls. It will be a challenge the first year as a varsity sport, but if we are able to work hard and have a good time doing it, the interest in the sport will take off.
Q: Do you have any team goals for your first year on the varsity level?
A: The goals I have for the program in the first year is obviously to win some matches. I think we need to be realistic and expect that a first year varsity program is not going to be a powerhouse. If we set realistic goals for the first season, win some matches and come together as a team, it will be a success as far as I am concerned.
Q: What tennis fundamentals are most important for anyone to master?
A: I think the serve is the hardest fundamental for any player to master. Finding the right technique, toss and then being prepared for the return from your opponent, is difficult to master. Also, tennis is such a mind game. If you don't have the right mindset and you don't concentrate on every point, it makes it that much harder to win.
Q: What are your best memories of being a scholarship swimmer at Boston University?
A: I have so many great memories from my four years of swimming for Boston University. The road trips for away meets were always an opportunity to have some fun after the competition was over.
We competed against some great colleges and to see some of those schools was a great opportunity. I met Joe Paterno when we competed against Penn State.
Training during Christmas break was also fun. We all stayed in apartments together since school was closed. No cafeteria food for a few weeks was a nice break. One Christmas break we went to the Bahamas to train. One of my teammates was from Nausau and his family had us over for New Years Eve. I don't think they had any idea what they were in for when we arrived!
