On February 26, the Parker boys tennis team began practices, meeting early in the mornings and practicing to prepare for their matches. As of May 19, the tennis team had a record of nine wins and three losses.
“From last year to this year a lot of players have put a lot of work into their game,” Captain Oliver Cahnman said when asked about the tennis team’s success this year. “Countless hours of offseason practice has drastically increased the talent on the team.” He cited this as the reason they have been prepared to succeed against strong teams like St. Ignatius College Prep.
The captains and team members aren’t the only ones excited by the team’s success this year. “One of the things that contributed to our success is that Parker Athletic Department has given us, we literally have five coaches for varsity and JV,” Varsity head coach Jim Taylor said. “When I was on the tennis team in high school, we had one coach for 30 plus people. I think part of the success is due to the individual teaching. We have the luxury of taking someone aside and saying you know, you have a great forehand and a great backhand, but your net game is lacking. So let’s work on your volley technique.”
The tennis team has many new members this year, including freshmen playing both Junior Varsity and Varsity. When asked what stepping into the tennis team was like, new players had many different responses.
“I thought that the tennis team was very welcoming and it has a good and fun dynamic,” freshman Conor Mcguire said. “There are lots of freshmen who joined this year, and it has been fun with them, and I hope that the team can continue to improve”
McGuire wasn’t the only one with positive things to say about this year’s tennis team. “Joining the tennis team as a freshman has been a lot easier than I expected. I have become friends with many members of the team and I feel very welcomed,” freshman Evan O’Connor said. O’Connor feels that the dynamic of the team was important. “The dynamic of the team is also very welcoming and fun. We all obviously enjoy playing tennis, but we all enjoy being on a team together and working together throughout the tennis season,” O’Connor said.
Coach Taylor is also excited about the incoming talent. “All three of them are experienced tennis players,” he said. “These three have great potential because their strokes are correct. They have the right form, they have the right technique. They just don’t have the experience. So I want to put them against really good competition and practice. And then whenever I can, if we’re facing an easy opponent, I’ll try to put them into that match. And that’s worked out really well so far.”
The team has plans for the future. “My goal is for these young players to learn how to play proper doubles, because if you grew up playing tennis in Chicago, they teach you to play singles. As a result, you show up in high school tennis, most of them are playing doubles, and they’re not very good volly-ers. They don’t have the strategy. So my goal is to turn some of these singles players, the young ones, into doubles players. For this group of seniors, I keep pressing on the fact that we have a really good team this year. They put in a lot of effort in the preseason. This could be to end the season with an amazing record and to beat teams that wouldn’t normally beat like Lab, Latin, and Payton. This would be a major accomplishment that they’ll remember really for the rest of their lives,” said Taylor.
However, Taylor isn’t the only one with plans and hopes for the future of the team. When asked about what he sees for the future of Parker, O’Connor said, “I hope that even after we lose many very talented seniors that the team will continue to have the same bond that we have now and that we can also still be a pretty formidable team next year and the years following.”
For the seniors, saying goodbye to the team is something they will have to face. However, that doesn’t stop them from having goals they want to achieve. When asked about what his plans are before saying goodbye to the team, Cahnman said, “ there’s still a lot of improvement necessary for us to win ISL, sectionals and state. With some more focus and discipline in practices and matches, we could be unstoppable for the playoffs in May.”
Cahnman was correct about the team’s postseason success. The team placed third during sectionals, with Cahnman finishing in second in the singles bracket. The three competed at the State Championships on May 23 to May 25.
