by Adam Colbert
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships”- Michael Jordan
The twelve girls on the varsity tennis squad are family, friends, personal trainers, mentors and most importantly, teammates. Even though it is an individual sport, these girls make the ultimate team.
Sophomore Emma Polk says the team shares “[a] passion for winning and striving to make a better name for HHS tennis.” The team’s mission is to become league champs, so they encourage each other to fight for that trophy.
“Our team gets along really well, and we communicate and laugh a lot when we need to and overall we [just] work well together,” adds junior Emily Collins.
Whenever someone is struggling with a particular aspect of the game, others step up and help that person fix their game. And when the girls play doubles, they are always communicating by calling for the ball and calling to switch positions.
“One time I was the last match to be played for the day, and I was really nervous going into the last couple of sets,” says Polk. “I wanted to be able to make my team proud by winning the match, so we could win the entire day.” The rest of the team watched Polk’s match and cheered for her. “Great hit, Emma!” they yelled. “Try again, come on!” Polk figured out what she was doing right, and she won her match.
“We have pride, but we’re not snobby about it,” says sophomore Maris Laughton. “Our talents are strong on the courts, and I think that strength carries over into our team’s friendship and bond.”
The team feels comfortable enough to run their own practices on Sundays without the coach, Caroline Weed. Most of the players on the team show up to the Riverside courts ready to play some tennis and help others improve their game.
Every time the team plays at Groton, they take their annual trip to Kimball Farm for ice cream. The team always takes trips for ice cream whenever they feel like it. So far this season they have been to Erikson’s Ice Cream, Hudson Creamery and Kimball Farm.
This season the team has a 6-1 league record, and they are currently second in their division.
For the varsity girls tennis players, teamwork seems to be the key to their success.
