Posted on June 30th, 2023.

During the last 4 years I have attended over 50 state of Georgia high school girl's tennis matches. In addition, many of these home and away matches have included high school boys. This blog piece is written to both inform and support all high school players and parents about these events.

First, I think it is important to understand that there are different divisions of high school tennis based on the student population at the various schools across the state. These divisions are then separated into regions, which may include 7–11 high school teams.

These last 4 years, I have coached one of the singles players (3 per team to play in a varsity match) for North Hall High School Tennis. This year, Gabbie was undefeated in her 11-team region and was voted "player of the year" for her region. She has a win/loss percentage rate for her high school years of over 85%.

Gabbie's team went all the way to the state finals and finished second. This was the first time in her high school's history that a tennis team made it to the finals of the state tournament. Quite an accomplishment and a stellar high school tennis career culmination! And throughout, it was the process that was invigorating and challenging. Many practice and match hours are held in all types of weather. Then there was physical training in addition.

As a coach of many different ages and levels throughout my professional tennis career, I've learned that every situation in coaching is different. There are many variables at hand, and it helps to have vast experience along with up-to-date knowledge and education to help the players involved. Physically, I'm not on the "uphill" of my own playing tennis, but the professional mental acuity of coaching is definitely on the peak. I believe my experience has helped the players I've coached enormously. Enjoyment and improvement should always go together for the player, parents, and coach. But one without the other is not a good working model, and I always want to keep the player excited and enthusiastic about playing. Improvement will then continue when I transfer easy-to-learn concepts that I have learned and incorporate them into my teaching.

The process can be a challenge, just like anything pursued, but there are many rewards to learning skills and being challenged. I have seen the rewards that tennis players experience during training and after their high school tennis careers. I can tell you, it is definitely and absolutely worth it in the short and long term! Enjoy the fascinating and fun game of tennis, and see you on the courts!