Thanks to all those who attended tonight's meeting. I apologize that it ran longer than I anticipated, but I do hope that valuable information was learned about the upcoming girls season next fall.
To recap what was covered:
1) Sign in
All players signed in & an initial team roster will be emailed to all that attended. The purpose of the initial roster is for girls to have each other's contact information to play and practice together this summer and for parents to communicate with each other.
2) Eligibility Requirements
- Physical form signed by a parent is required prior to participation in any sport at NHS.
- Grades must be acceptable (C or better) to participate in interscholastic sports. See your guidance counselor if you are worried about your academic status
- Copy of a players birth certificate must be on file in the athletic office prior to any contest with another school
3) Tryouts 8/2 - 8/6
The first week of the season's practice will be used to play multiple round robin challenge matches against each other. These sessions will start at 8:30AM and should wrap up by 12 noon at the latest. I expect all players to bring with them:
- Racket(s)
- Tennis shoes (not running shoes)
- Water Bottle
- Snack (if needed)
After 5 sessions of challenges, an initial ladder will be established ranking each player based on their results. After this first week, a player can move up or down only one spot at a time in a challenge match against another player.
4) Rules
I went over some basic rules, but in a nutshell the only real rule that I will be particular about is that if a player wants to play in matches they need to be at practice. I do expect good behavior & sportsmanship at practice and during matches...that is rarely a problem with this group of kids.
I also believe that a player should be at a match from beginning to end. Tennis is an individual sport, but players on this team are part of a team. It does bother me when players ask if it is OK to leave a match when they are finished playing. To me, that is like a pitcher leaving a baseball game when a relief pitcher is brought in to finish the game. I would like players to stay at the matches until all players have finished playing.
5) Fall Practice Schedule
Before the school year starts, we will practice in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. I handed out a season long schedule of how I anticipate the season folding out. It is subject to change that is usually the result of rained out matches.
Practice is never cancelled due to weather. If it rains on a practice or match day we will always have an indoor practice & conditioning after school. I will text the team captains the plan for that day & captains forward that text message to the rest of the team.
The practice schedule also lists the days that we will be having matches and what times players need to be at the courts for either warm up or bus departure.
6) Match Schedule
This season we have 2 scrimmages, 1 tournament, and 17 matches scheduled & I handed out the schedule.
Our region will consist of Spartanburg, Gaffney, Clover, Rock Hill, and Lancaster whom we will play twice each. Matches are mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there are a couple Monday & Wednesday contests. Other than the week of Labor Day, I tried to avoid back to back matches until the last week of the season when we are preparing for playoffs.
We are tentatively (99% confirmed) hosting a 6 team round robin tournament on Friday August 27th & Saturday August 28th. Northwestern, Fort Mill, and Nation Ford will be competing against 3 Charlotte area schools in a SC vs. NC challenge.
7) Off Season Workouts
We have the potential to be a good team this fall and I would like that to happen. However, we have stiff competition in our region. We cannot expect to show up after not having worked hard this summer and expect to beat teams on our schedule.
Therefore, I developed a summer program for the girls to track their practice progress over the next 10 weeks. There is a point system that has a goal of 14 points every week for each player. This is an amount that I feel we need to accomplish in order for us to be competitive with our opponents this fall.
There are three basic categories that I feel the players need to focus on
1- Instruction (Lessons/Camps/Clinics as well as practice hitting)
2- Competition (Practice matches/Tournaments)
3- Physical fitness (Running/Weight training)
The points are intentionally weighted heavily towards competition, but it is very possible to earn points every day simply by being athletically active. It is up to the player to determine how they want to earn points. A beginner player might want to get more instruction whereas a more experienced player might want to focus on fitness and competing in tournaments.
Frankly, I could care less how the goal is met. What is important to me is that the girls have a goal to meet and they try to reach it. The more effort and thought that goes into it the better.
8) Summer Trip 2011
I tossed around some potential ideas for something fun with tennis that we could start to brainstorm about for next year.
We live really close to some of the best tennis and beach resorts in the world and an obvious fun idea to me would be a beach trip to the coast for a week. We could do Hilton Head tennis clinics at Palmetto Dunes in the morning and spend the day at the beach.
Another thought would be a Labor Day 2011 trip to New York to watch the US Open. We could probably find a New York City school to play against and then go to the Open for a few days.
There are many other feasible options, but unfortunately none would be free. I really would like to see if parents can start communicating about two things:
1 - A plan for a trip (location & dates)
2- Fundraising ideas
Looking forward to seeing everyone on August 2nd!
To recap what was covered:
1) Sign in
All players signed in & an initial team roster will be emailed to all that attended. The purpose of the initial roster is for girls to have each other's contact information to play and practice together this summer and for parents to communicate with each other.
2) Eligibility Requirements
- Physical form signed by a parent is required prior to participation in any sport at NHS.
- Grades must be acceptable (C or better) to participate in interscholastic sports. See your guidance counselor if you are worried about your academic status
- Copy of a players birth certificate must be on file in the athletic office prior to any contest with another school
3) Tryouts 8/2 - 8/6
The first week of the season's practice will be used to play multiple round robin challenge matches against each other. These sessions will start at 8:30AM and should wrap up by 12 noon at the latest. I expect all players to bring with them:
- Racket(s)
- Tennis shoes (not running shoes)
- Water Bottle
- Snack (if needed)
After 5 sessions of challenges, an initial ladder will be established ranking each player based on their results. After this first week, a player can move up or down only one spot at a time in a challenge match against another player.
4) Rules
I went over some basic rules, but in a nutshell the only real rule that I will be particular about is that if a player wants to play in matches they need to be at practice. I do expect good behavior & sportsmanship at practice and during matches...that is rarely a problem with this group of kids.
I also believe that a player should be at a match from beginning to end. Tennis is an individual sport, but players on this team are part of a team. It does bother me when players ask if it is OK to leave a match when they are finished playing. To me, that is like a pitcher leaving a baseball game when a relief pitcher is brought in to finish the game. I would like players to stay at the matches until all players have finished playing.
5) Fall Practice Schedule
Before the school year starts, we will practice in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. I handed out a season long schedule of how I anticipate the season folding out. It is subject to change that is usually the result of rained out matches.
Practice is never cancelled due to weather. If it rains on a practice or match day we will always have an indoor practice & conditioning after school. I will text the team captains the plan for that day & captains forward that text message to the rest of the team.
The practice schedule also lists the days that we will be having matches and what times players need to be at the courts for either warm up or bus departure.
6) Match Schedule
This season we have 2 scrimmages, 1 tournament, and 17 matches scheduled & I handed out the schedule.
Our region will consist of Spartanburg, Gaffney, Clover, Rock Hill, and Lancaster whom we will play twice each. Matches are mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there are a couple Monday & Wednesday contests. Other than the week of Labor Day, I tried to avoid back to back matches until the last week of the season when we are preparing for playoffs.
We are tentatively (99% confirmed) hosting a 6 team round robin tournament on Friday August 27th & Saturday August 28th. Northwestern, Fort Mill, and Nation Ford will be competing against 3 Charlotte area schools in a SC vs. NC challenge.
7) Off Season Workouts
We have the potential to be a good team this fall and I would like that to happen. However, we have stiff competition in our region. We cannot expect to show up after not having worked hard this summer and expect to beat teams on our schedule.
Therefore, I developed a summer program for the girls to track their practice progress over the next 10 weeks. There is a point system that has a goal of 14 points every week for each player. This is an amount that I feel we need to accomplish in order for us to be competitive with our opponents this fall.
There are three basic categories that I feel the players need to focus on
1- Instruction (Lessons/Camps/Clinics as well as practice hitting)
2- Competition (Practice matches/Tournaments)
3- Physical fitness (Running/Weight training)
The points are intentionally weighted heavily towards competition, but it is very possible to earn points every day simply by being athletically active. It is up to the player to determine how they want to earn points. A beginner player might want to get more instruction whereas a more experienced player might want to focus on fitness and competing in tournaments.
Frankly, I could care less how the goal is met. What is important to me is that the girls have a goal to meet and they try to reach it. The more effort and thought that goes into it the better.
8) Summer Trip 2011
I tossed around some potential ideas for something fun with tennis that we could start to brainstorm about for next year.
We live really close to some of the best tennis and beach resorts in the world and an obvious fun idea to me would be a beach trip to the coast for a week. We could do Hilton Head tennis clinics at Palmetto Dunes in the morning and spend the day at the beach.
Another thought would be a Labor Day 2011 trip to New York to watch the US Open. We could probably find a New York City school to play against and then go to the Open for a few days.
There are many other feasible options, but unfortunately none would be free. I really would like to see if parents can start communicating about two things:
1 - A plan for a trip (location & dates)
2- Fundraising ideas
Looking forward to seeing everyone on August 2nd!
