Girls Tryout Rules & Process

We will begin tryouts for the 2010 girls season on Monday August 2nd and will go for five consecutive days. Unless we experience rain, tryouts should conclude on Friday August 6th. Tryouts will start at 8:30 AM and last until 11:30 AM on all five days. An end time will depend on the girl's pace of play. Faster players may end sooner & slower players may end later than 11:30.

General Try Out Process:

1) The girls will be placed into groups of 3, 4 or 5 players. The first day, they will be placed in groups based on the players historical team ranking & new players will fill in at the bottom based on age (older starting higher).

2) The girls will play 6 games (no-ad scoring) against each person in their group. A girl can win 6-0, 5-1, 4-2, or 4-3. If 2 girls are tied at 3-3, they will play a 4 point tiebreaker that doesn't have to be won by 2 points (this tiebreak can be won 4-3, 4-2, 4-1, or 4-0). We will play two round robins each day for five straight days.

- No Ad Scoring: http://tennis.about.com/cs/beginners/a/beginnerscore.htm
- Tiebreaker Scoring: http://www.ehow.com/way_5439143_tennis-tiebreaker-rules.html

3) The girl that wins the most games against the other girls in her group will rise up to the next highest group. The girls that wins the fewest games will drop down to the next lowest group. In event of a tie, the head to head winner finishes with a higher rank. In a three way tie, I will look at the margin of victory over the other player(s) in the group.

4) After the first three rotations of players, I will begin marking down where each player finishes in a round. After the first three rotations (2 on day #1 & 1 on day #2) if a player finishes at the top of the top group, they will be given 1 point, 2nd place in the top group gets 2 points, 3rd gets 3 points, etc all the way down to the bottom player in the bottom group. On day 5, I add up all the points that a player was given. The low point earning player is #1, 2nd lowest is #2, etc on down to the lowest rank on the team.

Returning players should remember that this is the same method I used last year except for #2. I have adjusted the scoring method this season to get matches to finish quicker.

Tryout Rules

1) I will use USTA tournament rules to address timeliness. If a player is 5 minutes late, they will forfeit the serve & 1 game to their opponent. 10 minutes late will forfeit serve & 3 games. 15 minutes late will forfeit the first match of the round robin. Be early to avoid being penalized.

2) If a player uses foul language or commits any unsportsmanlike action during tryouts, they will forfeit all their remaining matches that day. If the player comes back the next day and has another incident, she will not be on the team this season.

3) As for CUTS to the team this year, I would like to not have to cut anyone. However, it will depend on the number of players that show up to try out. If we have a large number of players try out I likely will have to make cuts. If that is the case, here is what I would look at:

After tryouts I will ask myself...
- Is a player one of the top 10 players at Northwestern? If yes, they make the team
- If they are not top 10, are they in the top 7 of their class? If yes, they probably make the team, but I will look at what the final try out rankings look like.
- If not top 10 & not top 7 of their class, I will look at the players age & experience. I would favor taking younger players over upper classmen as they have more time to make improvements to their game before they graduate. However, in a situation where a player is #8 in their class and #11 on the team, that player is likely to make the team. Then again if a player is #8 in their class & #20 overall, they would probably not make the team. It will all depend on what the final try out rankings look like.

4) If a new player to the team this year is unable to make tryouts due to a commitment that was made prior to our meeting in May, I will start that player at the bottom of the roster assuming that space exists on the roster. They will play 8 game prosets against the girls at the bottom of the ladder during the first week of practice on August 9th. Based on their results on 8/9 & 8/10 I will make a decision to keep that player on the team or not. I have already been notified by the two players that this impacts & they are aware that this is a more difficult way to earn a high rank on the team than participating in the week of tryouts.

- 8 game Proset: http://www.tenniscoachdave.com/pages/tournaments.aspx

5) It is expected that players will be physically fit to play 3 hours of tennis for 5 consecutive days. If a player is unfit at tryouts, I may ask them to not participate this season. We will spend a lot of time the first 3 weeks of preseason practice on conditioning, but it is important that players have a base level of fitness to avoid heat illness from doing strenuous outdoor exercise.

6) After these initial challenges, a player can only move up or down 1 position at a time. Regular match scoring will be used after tryouts where 2 no-ad sets are played & a 10-point tiebreak is the sets are split. My goal for this season is to have no more than 1 challenge match per week (Fridays) after try outs among our top 10 players. Lower ranking players will likely challenge more often than the top 10 players.

It is important to undestand that I am looking for players who can continue to build a strong foundation of tennis at Northwestern. We have made great strides the past two years that I have coached and I am looking to continue in a positive direction. Tryouts will be a highly competitive environment. However, all players need to keep in mind that high school tennis is a team sport and it will take a team of players for us to be successful this year and into the future.

Boys Banquet Summary

The end of season gathering was a really great event. It was good to get our three seniors together once again before they head off to college next year. And of course, I had to let the returning guys know what a great opportunity they have next year to be a great team in the state of South Carolina.

We began the awards part of the program by recognizing our team assistants for the 2010 Season. These two young ladies were very helpful to me in a variety of different ways this spring and took care of many details that often are not thought about. I sincerely thanked:

Betsy Creech
Emily Edwards

We then introduced the non-letter winning players and mentioning their season accomplishments:

Quincy Ghent
Phillip Yommer
Ben Leppard
Collin Schroeder
Jacob Schroeder
Ben Barkley
Jonathan Patton
Brian Fitzpatrick

We then introduced the varsity letter winners for 2010 and touched on their accomplishments:

Wesley Matthews - 1st Tennis Letter
Daniel Hawkins - 1st
Key Barkley - 1st
Tyler Leonard - 2nd
Chris Cassidy - 1st
Michael Baldwin - 1st
Collins Mauldin - 2nd
Jordan Beaver - 3rd
John Clark - 2nd
Hunter Love - 2nd
Drayton Wade - 3rd
Seth Russell - 5th

I then handed out 3 team awards and the coach's award for 2010. The kids had the opportunity to vote for Most Valuable Player, Best Practice Player, and Most Improved Player.

For Best Practice Player, I ask the players to think about who sets a great example in practice and pushes you to work harder because of how they work. The 2010 Best Practice Player was Collins Mauldin.

For the Most Improved Player, I ask the guys to vote for who they think has either improved the most since last season or improved the most over the course of the season. The award for 2010 went to Michael Baldwin.

For the Most Valuable Player award, I ask the players to think about what player was most responsible for the level of success we were able to achieve as a team this season. The award went to Drayton Wade.

For my Coach's Award, I think through the past year as to who represents the team in the highest manner. I try to think of a player that I want others to try to be like in how they work, how they play, and how easy they are to coach. I awarded this year's Coach's Award to Hunter Love.
We had 11 members of the Boys Tennis Program be named All-State Academic Team for 2011 this spring and we awarded them with certificates of their student achievements: Drayton Wade, Jordan Beaver, Collins Mauldin, Michael Baldwin, Tyler Leonard, Daniel Hawkins, Wesley Matthews, Ben Barkley, Jonathan Patton, Ben Leppard and Brian Fitzpatrick.

Betsy & Emily then provided the true highlight of the evening as they presented awards that they came up with that needed mentioning. I wish I had them give me the whole list so I could post it, but the entire room was laughing at some of the creativity that went into the award names (Best Bandanna, Best Pickup Lines, Best Foodfight Starter, etc.)

After we took a few photos, I went over an off-season program that I came up with to motivate the returning players to prepare for next season. Honestly, I assume that if we do no work between now and next year we could finish 3rd in our region next year. That wouldn't be a rewarding season in my opinion.

The whole reason that I put this program together is that I feel this group of returning players should win Region 3-AAAA and be a contender for a state championship in 2011. It won't be an easy goal to accomplish, but if the work goes into it... the reward should be very satisfying next May.

Go Trojans!

2010 Girls Meeting Recap

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!

Trojans Defeated in Second Round by #3 ranked Dorman

The trip to Dorman to compete in round 2 of the SC AAAA state championships ended up being the last match of the 2010 spring season for the Trojans. The 0-7 defeat handed to us by the Cavaliers leaves us with a final record of 12-6. We may not have claimed a win at any line tonight, but I was happy with the quality of tennis that we played against one of the state's elite programs this year.

I tried to downplay the strength of Dorman's team in practice yesterday even though I know that they have been the buzz of the upstate this spring as far as contenders go for the state title. They have been ranked in the top 5 of the SCTCA's coach's poll this season and were picked #3 in the April 17th poll. After seeing them in action, it is clear to me that the buzz is accurate and they do have a legit shot at winning this year's championship. Their lines 1 through 4 are very solid and there is a very small drop off at #5. Their doubles team might not beat Spring Valley or Lexington, but if the top of their lineup takes care of business, they can pull it off.

On paper, we had no business competing with Dorman:

Their #1 is ranked #11 in the USTA SC's 18's, ours is unranked

Their #2 is ranked #4 in the 14's, ours is ranked #106 in the 18's

Their #3 is ranked #79 in the 18's, ours is #50 in the 16's

Their #4 is ranked #83 in the 18's, ours is unranked

Their #5 is ranked #78 in the 14's, ours is unranked

But that is why you play the game. Sure, they beat us at every line tonight. We did give them some fits tonight and played hard. I thought that the doubles team would force a match tiebreak and win their match to remain undefeated on the season. Jordan even looked like he'd have a chance to sneak a set off their #5.

Hunter even tried so hard that he broke out a dramatic jump serve that he and I worked on yesterday...it was absolutely hysterical & it cost me 5 bucks since I bet him that he wouldn't do it. His opponents mother made me almost fall down laughing when she said, "What in the world was that?" (Note: Hunter won that point...probably because the kids had no clue how to react to something so goofy looking.) It was 5 bucks well spent!

I generally don't give a lot of thought to rankings when I play someone, but they do usually reflect a competitiveness that a player has. To be ranked high, you need to play a lot of tournament events year round. It's possible to play 3 or 4 events and be ranked in the top 100 if you can win a few matches. However, to be ranked near the top 10 of an age group you need to play 12-15 tournaments a year and get wins against a lot of quality opponents.

The Northwestern boys team has a lot of potential to rise up to the level of Dorman and Spring Valley. We have some true talent returning next year that simply needs to log the hours on court and have a desire to get better. Do players need to take lessons? Yes. Do players need to spend a lot of time with hitting practice? Yes. Do players need to play practice matches against each other? Yes. Do players need to compete in tournaments year round? Yes. Do players need to be running & lifting weights? Yes. Is this a lot to ask of the players? Absolutely.

It isn't something that is going to be easy to do, but nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy. I plan on giving every returning player a goals chart and a point system that I created to help everyone become better players. I don't expect that every player will follow this plan 100%, but I do promise any player that does will improve dramatically in their skill and athleticism over the next 9 months. I also promise that players that don't follow the plan will be passed up in tryouts next year by the players that do.

Next season starts now.

Go Trojans!

Location: Dorman HS, Roebuck, SC
Result: Dorman 7, Northwestern 0

Singles
1- Jackson Keith def Drayton Wade 6-0, 6-2
2- Wood Benton def Seth Russell 6-1, 6-0
3- Andrew Harvey def Hunter Love 6-0, 6-0
4- Skyler Wenkles def John Clark 6-1, 6-2
5- Patrick Tobacco def Jordan Beaver 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1- Jay Michels/Michael Hileski def Collins Mauldin/Michael Baldwin 6-4, 6-4
2- Mayfield Reynolds/Forrest Reynolds def Chris Cassidy/Tyler Leonard 8-4
Records: Dorman 14-3, Northwestern 12-6

Jump Serve Maestro

Trojans Advance to Second Round with Win over Rock Hill High

For the first time since the 2006 spring season, the Northwestern boys tennis team advanced to the second round of the SCHSL AAAA state playoffs by defeating the Rock Hill Bearcats 4-2. The victory improves our record to 12-5 overall and has now doubled our win total from a season ago.

The All Region doubles team of Michael Baldwin and Collins Mauldin cleared the courts first with a swift victory. The first set was a shutout before the Rock Hill team was able to get on the board in the second set. The second set was even early until the Trojan boys took control again for a 6-2 second set and the first team win for the Trojans on the night.

Hunter Love finished next at #3 singles. Again facing the same quality opponent in Silverman of the Bearcats, Hunter played near flawless tennis to give the Trojans team win #2 by score of 6-1, 6-1.

Jordan Beaver bumped up from his normal #5 spot for a match up advantage that I figured we would have at the #4 spot against Cauthen of Rock Hill with Jordan's heavy topspin. Jordan popped a string in warm ups and had to play with Hunter's spare racket tonight...yes, this made me nervous. It seemed to bother Jordan slightly as he warmed up against Cauthen, but ended up being no problem in the end. Jordan's win at #4 put us ahead 3 matches to none at that point.

The Bearcats then got on the board after the #1 singles match concluded. Drayton played pretty well against Lee of Rock Hill, but wow...Lee played well, better than I have ever seen him play. Drayton went down and the scoreboard was lopsided, but give Drayton credit for fighting back in the second set.

Two matches remained out of the initial six at this point as Seth Russell played at #2 singles and Chris Cassidy (pictured at top) filled in at the #5 position. Chris was up a set and two service breaks, while Seth trailed by a set and one break. Both matches finished within a minute of each other and Chris was able to clinch the line 5 win & the match for the Trojans. I couldn't be more proud of Chris for stepping up and finishing big for his team in a pressure situation.

We anticipate a match up with Dorman in round 2 as they were the #1 seed out of Region 2 and played the #4 seed Wren out of Region 1. I smell The Beacon...

Go Trojans!

Location: Rock Hill HS
Result: Northwestern 4, Rock Hill 2

Singles
1) Austin Lee (R) def Drayton Wade 6-0, 6-2
2) Alik MacLachlan (R) def Seth Russell 7-5, 6-4
3) Hunter Love (N) def Alex Silverman 6-1, 6-1
4) Jordan Beaver (N) def Nick Cauthen 6-1, 6-2
5) Chris Cassidy (N) def Austin Shores 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1) DNP
2) Collins Mauldin/Michael Baldwin (N) def Tony Ly, Michael Adams 6-0, 6-2
Records: Northwestern 12-5, Rock Hill 9-6

Three Trojan Boys Named to 2010 All Region Team

The region 3-AAAA coaches met last night at Clover HS to select the All-Region team for 2010 and nominate players to the state singles tournament. Three players from Northwestern were given all region honors and one was selected as an alternate to the state singles tournament.

Seth Russell (pictured top right)was selected to the All-Region team for the second straight season. Seth has compiled a 10-5 overall record this spring, including a 7-3 mark in region matches at #1 singles. Seth's name has also been given as an alternate to the SC High School League for consideration in the 2010 AAA-AAAA State Singles Tournament later this month.

The doubles team of Michael Baldwin (pictured bottom right) & Collins Mauldin (left)was also selected to the All-Region team. When playing together this season, these two young men had a combined record of 11-0 while going 8-0 in Region 3-AAAA. Together, these two boys have been the most successful doubles team I have ever coached at Northwestern.

2010 Region 3-AAAA All Region Team

Chase Altieri, Clover
Tyler Davis, Fort Mill

Seth Russell, Northwestern

Madison Ott, Nation Ford

Danny Randar, Nation Ford

Nick Deahl, Clover

Will Decker, Clover

Chase Lovins, Fort Mill

Andres Leon, Fort Mill

Tucker DeLoach, Clover

Collins Mauldin, Northwestern

Michael Baldwin, Northwestern

Player of the Year: Chase Altieri, Clover

Coach of the Year: Matt Rohring, Nation Ford

SCHSL AAA Playoff Bracket

This will get updated over the next 48 hours by the SC High School League:

http://www.schsl.org/2009%20brackets/bteaaaa.pdf

Our region's teams are listed already, but the other regions have not yet reported as of the time of this post. Check back as often as you'd like to see what other teams we will be competing against in the 2010 boys tennis state championships.

Go Trojans!