Sport Club Spotlight: Club Tennis
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By AMANDA HOWAR
Co-ed Club Tennis is a great way to meet people and to continue to play a team sport if someone does not want to play at the varsity level. While Club Tennis is more competitive than an intramural sport, it is less stressful and allows for a more social aspect of the sport.
“I love the social aspect and the camaraderie among my teammates. Practices are always fun and a great stress-reliever,” said senior co-captain of Club Tennis Emily Saia.
Anyone can join the team; it does not matter if someone is a beginner or advanced.
On the varsity level at UMW, women’s and men’s tennis compete on separate teams but Club Tennis is co-ed. Tennis is a great sport to be co-ed because the rules and court size for tennis are exactly the same for any gender. Women and men have similar strengths on the tennis court with women and men competing on the same level. “I think for our sport, it’s the matter of skills and talent, not gender,” said junior co-captain Marcus Mitra.
Club Tennis practices are fun but also have enough competitive edge since they participate in tournaments. Practices are three times a week for 90-minute sessions but during tournament season, they have extra practices. Men and women will practice against each other in singles during practices. There is also a mix up during doubles. This allows the teams to be prepared for tournaments and strengthen the bond within the team. Just like any team, Club Tennis participates in tournaments in the Virginia and Maryland area.
Other tournaments are held in the Mid-Atlantic section. Club Tennis goes to six tournaments every year. This semester the team played against University of Virginia and the next tournaments they are going to are at Virginia Beach and the University of Maryland. In tournaments the matches are men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and a mixed doubles match with male and female pair playing against another male and female pair.
Club Tennis is an excellent way to join a sport and participate as a team in tournament play.
Someone can be competitive in this sport but Club Tennis puts an emphasis on being a team player and giving it your all to the sport. The team members are supportive of each other no matter the skill level, “Some are really good Division I teams but we keep up with them and hold our own even though our team is relatively small compared to them, and that I’m very proud of,” Mitra said.
