Coach Ladson, Coach Baird, Coach Ynson, Coach Bailey; after four coaches in two years, members of the girls tennis team just want some consistency in their lives.
Coach Ladson began as the coach of the girl’s tennis team the spring of 2013. Midway through the season, he was replaced by Coach Ynson and Baird. Ynson and Baird were called at the last minute to head the team.
“I am grateful for the time and encouragement that Ynson and Baird gave our team,” said senior Rachel Colon. The team went 13-0 and was Patriot District Champions for the first time since the 1980’s.
Unfortunately, Baird and Ynson were unable to coach the next season and WS had to search for another coach. Luckily, ASL teacher Sharon Bailey was willing to step up to the plate. Although she was only able to coach for one season, members of the team were thankful for her efforts in coaching the team. Currently, the girls tennis team does not have a tennis coach.
It is a difficult process for WS to find another tennis coach. The school looks for specific requirements in order to hire as a coach, which can often be a time consuming process.
“We look for people that have had previous tennis coaching experience and can be a teacher to the sport,” said Assistant Student Activities Director Betsy Fawsett.
The girls on the tennis team have grown frustrated with the instability among the coaching figures.
“It’s frustrating not having a tennis coach. There hasn’t been a steady coach to rely on during the seasons,” said junior Natalie Pham.
The girls tennis team is not the only one who has faced problems with a dependable coaching figure. The boys tennis team faced a serious problem the spring of 2013, which was not solved until the day of tryouts.
The previous boys coach, Brian Stagliano, had decided not to rejoin the team and WS could not find a replacement coach. Players had no idea what was going to happen the team and tryouts were quickly approaching. They were not informed of who would coach or what would take place for tryouts.
“It was all unclear. There were rumors that there was not going to be a tennis team that year,” said Senior Sam Brown.
“There were rumors that there was going to be no coach and that we should tryout for tennis teams for other schools. But, we didn’t want tryout for other schools. We wanted to represent tennis at WS,” said senior Thomas Barnard.
Players from both teams agree that it is a difficult situation to not know how soon it will be until they get a new coach or what that new coach will be like. Constantly changing coaches weakens a team’s chemistry. It takes longer for the players to build trust with the coach.
“It makes us anxious not knowing what the new coach will be like or what their experience is,” said Colon.
The players feel that the tennis team as a whole is underappreciated.
“Hannah Yang and I made it to state competition and we didn’t receive any recognition for our achievements,” said Pham. Besides a small announcement on the morning announcements, they did not receive any school wide attention. “The year we won districts still isn’t marked on the banner in the gym from the spring of 2013,” said Colon.