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Spring is back and you know what that means, Hudson Valley sports fans.
Boys tennis!
OK, maybe tennis isn’t the most popular or glamorous of scholastic sports, but the schools in our coverage area boast a number of highly competitive squads ready to storm the courts this season. Here’s a team-by-team look at what to expect.
Arlington
After sharing the league title with Ketcham last season, Gail Lynch’s Admirals lost nine starters in the off-season.
“It felt devastating at the time,” said Lynch. “But since tryouts I’ve gotten to see that the new talent is pretty nice. I really thought we’d be transitioning and we wouldn’t be too competitive this year, but now I think we will be. We’ve got a lot of freshmen. It should be a pretty good season.”
Lynch admits, though, that last season’s success puts some pressure on this year’s team, but in a positive way.
“The players who didn’t graduate looked around and realized they really needed to step it up in the off-season,” she said. “They knew they had to work harder to make up for the losses. And they did. That’s nice to see.”
Lynch knows that tennis can be a somewhat individual sport. But she makes it a priority to create a team atmosphere while also tailoring her program to specific needs.
“Each individual is different so you can’t lump them all together,” she said of the way she motivates and teaches her players. “But I generally try to treat the team as a family.”
Lynch is counting on junior Jarrett Sears (a No. 1 singles player last season) as well as returning senior Brian Maisch to anchor the squad. Freshman newcomer Teddy Gross should also contribute.
“I always tell my team I don’t care if they win or lose as long as they act like winners,” said Lynch, whose team opens its season on April 3 at home against Walter Panas. “I don’t want them hanging their heads on the court and moping around. Every match should be a learning experience.”
FDR
Head coach Bob Mayerhofer has a lot of work to do. And he’s ready for the challenge.
“The situation is wide open this year. We lost our first and second singles players as well as half of our first doubles team. We have no proven players coming back. I don’t think a league title is what we can realistically shoot for. But I want them to go after every win and not be afraid to lose.”
Mayerhofer is realistic about his team’s chances after finishing 6-5 a year ago, but that doesn’t mean he’s not looking forward to the coming year.
“I’m excited to coach this group,” he said. “Each year is somewhat different. I try to wait and see what the athletes are like. Nothing is locked in yet, but I know this is a very enthusiastic and young group.”
Mayerhofer is also concerned that his Presidents, who open the season on April 1 at Red Hook, look toward the future.
“I’m not giving up on this season,” he said, “but these guys have so many years in front of them. I want them to develop good habits early on and instill in them a positive attitude.”
The coach’s top returner is senior Anthony Massey, who was the Presidents’ third singles player last season. Mayerhofer will also be counting on sophomore Geoff Ackerman (projected for singles this year after spending last year as a first doubles player) and eighth-grader Kevin Ackerman. Seventh-grader Jonah Berkowitz, who has never played a match before, will help round out the squad.
“On paper, you wouldn’t expect us to win much,” said Mayerhofer. “But we’ll see what happens. We’re playing with house money.”
Ketcham
Ninth-year head coach Brian LaSusa and his Indians have a lot to live up to after the Ketcham boys finished last season 7-1 and in a tie for the league championship with Arlington. Add in that the Indians lost eight seniors from last year’s team and LaSusa knows 2008 will be a whole lot different from 2007.
“We had some big losses,” he said. “But we had a good turnout at tryouts. It’s kind of odd. We have four seniors who came out for tennis for the first time. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far. The kids have shown great court-sense, great ball-sense and a real feeling of camaraderie.”
LaSusa also isn’t concerned that last year’s success creates unrealistic expectations for this year’s squad.
“From year-to-year the expectations change,” he said. “Maybe if we had the same crew coming back, we’d feel (the pressure of last year’s success). “But the turnover allows us to say, ‘Let’s see what we’ve got’ and go from there.”
LaSusa, whose team opens the season on March 31 at Mahopac, tries to focus on three facets of the game with his players: stroke production, the mental approach and physical conditioning.
“The three aspects never change,” he said. “But I adjust from year-to-year depending on what the kids need to focus on.”
The Indians are led by four key senior returners: Gordon Moseley, Tom Kapusta, Eric Ianucci and Zen Ahmed. Many spots on the team are still up-for-grabs.
“We have a saying we use a lot,” said LaSusa. “It’s ‘Life begins where your comfort zone ends.’ We want to have fun, but we also know we have to work hard to achieve our goals.”
Poughkeepsie
Ken Koren’s Pioneers have nowhere to go but up after a winless 2007 campaign.
“We struggled, but we have almost our whole team back,” said Koren. “We should be much more mature and everyone should know what to expect. It’s really up to the players and what kind of effort they put into (the season). They’ve been here before. Now they just have to step up and (win).”
That won’t be easy for a squad that boasts a lot of beginners, some of whom have never picked up a racket.
“We have to take baby-steps to get where we want to go,” he said. “We just want to keep improving. We have amazing kids, but they don’t play year-round like some of the athletes we compete against. We don’t have a JV team. And our kids don’t take private lessons. But it’s a pleasure working with them. They work hard and try their best. They might surprise us. We’ll see what happens.”
Given his team’s relative inexperience, Koren is careful to coach his team based on its effort, not its results.
“I never get mad at the kids if they’re not capable of hitting a shot,” he said. “I only get mad if they’re not thinking out there.”
Koren thinks his team could pull off several wins this season despite the stiff competition in the league. He’ll look to seniors Dan Nosonowitz, Lee Kaufman, Ian Wallin, Eric Salazar and Brian Veltre to help fulfill that lofty goal. Sophomore Nicholas Hoffman could push Nosonowitz for the No. 1 singles position.
“Tennis is all about consistency,” said Koren. “We have our top seven back from last year and a lot of teams lost a bunch of seniors. So maybe we can take advantage.”
The Pioneers will open up at home against Brewster on April 1.
Spackenkill
After finishing second in the league last year, veteran coach Mark Reed says his Spartans are ready for another serious run.
“We’re a contender for the league title,” he said. “This year we have five returning players but they’re all in 11th grade, so we’re young too. This group came on the team together and I think they’re really ready to go out and play their best tennis so far.”
The Spartans open their season on April 3 against Onteora. But Reed is already thinking farther down the line.
“We want to have a strong postseason as well,” he said. “We’ve been to the states three times since I’ve been here so we have that tradition to live up to. That’s definitely a motivating factor for our guys.”
Reed tailors his coaching methodology according to the specific strengths of his players, but one thing he tries to instill in each of his teams is a sense of group accountability.
“They are their own best facilitators,” he said. “They help each other strive to be the best they can be. I really try to foster camaraderie between the players.”
Reed thinks the league is filled with strong squads, but is particularly wary of last year’s league champion, Rondout.
“They’ll be a good challenge for us,” Reed said.
The group of juniors Reed will rely on includes Varun Deedwaniya, Brett Cornell, Anthony Balbo and Stuart Greenbaum. Sophomore Sandeep Sikerwar and freshmen Chris Yu and Ed Zhou will also contribute.
