COLORADO SPRINGS – When a friend needs help, the proper thing to do is to help a friend. That might be the entire philosophy of the Widefield boys tennis team this fall.
Numbers looked dire for a while but, like at any school, there were plenty of kids loitering around the halls, not participating in a fall sport. Baseball coach John Sanchez took notice. He saw some of players not running cross country or playing football or soccer. He didn’t like them being stagnant.
He approached a handful of players and told them it might be a good idea to go out for tennis. It turned out to be a pretty easy sell. And it was fortunate for the tennis team as the addition of the baseball players filled out a full roster for the Gladiators and now they have kids playing at every position from No. 1 singles to No. 4 doubles.
“(Coach) Sanchez just looked at us and said ‘tennis,’” junior Brendan Duggan said. “I said sure. That pretty much how it went.”
This wasn’t going to be like baseball. The atmosphere and the etiquette surrounding a tennis team is vastly different from the chatter normally heard on a baseball diamond. And it turned into a major selling point for the roster.
Emotions can get out of control at any moment playing something like baseball, football or basketball. In tennis, the guys have to slow down and handle their emotions.
“You have to more controlled in your emotions with this game,” junior Johnny Estrema said. “In baseball, there are a lot of babies out there. They just do whatever. Here, it’s a gentlemen’s sport.”
Despite a 6-3, 6-0 loss in No. 3 singles to the Colorado Springs School on Tuesday, Estrema never lost a smile. His attitude was consistent throughout his entire match and it’s a feeling that resonates throughout the entire squad.
Over in No. 2 doubles, Duggan and his partner, Oscar Belmontes maintained a positive attitude to their second match win of the year, winning 6-1, 6-1. They also beat Pueblo East earlier in the year. Duggan and Belmontes are a duo that had never played organized tennis before this year, but just seemed to take to it naturally.
“It’s been fun,” Duggan said. “I expected to (not be good) at hitting, but it’s a little easier than I thought.”
Belmontes echoed the sentiment. He had the fortune of having to learn a new skill on the fly during baseball season. A hard-throwing kid, Sanchez wanted to make him a pitcher, but he had never pitched in his life. After learning that skill in a short time, adjusting to tennis felt natural.
“I was able to learn pretty quickly,” Belmontes said. “Coach taught me pretty well and baseball helped out. My batting definitely helped me out with my swinging here.”
As these guys adjust to playing a new sport, they’re also doing their own part to grab other athletes in the hallways and try to get them out for the team. They’ve learned that remaining stagnant through a season can be a loss in so many ways.
No matter if the guys haven’t played before, they’re finding ways to get on the court and log varsity minutes. On top of it, competing is doing themselves and their team a big service this fall.
“I have seven new guys who have never played before,” coach Stephen Portugal said. “It helps to have a full team and they’re doing things in the interim to stay fit, stay active and stay out of trouble.”
Even with little experience, they’re utilizing the sports at their school for the exact reason that those sports exist in the first place.