Since Chaminade has started school, basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, golf and cross-country has started conditioning, practicing and games. The woman tennis team, however, has yet, to set foot on the court. They have lacked a coach to lead their young squad.
Last season the tennis team had an admirable season. They finished fifth in the PacWest Conference. But after last season, the coach Blake Mosley called it quits. Until Nov 24, Chaminade had no luck finding a coach for team.
The team had a difficult time practicing during the off-season. It was hard to get team members together, as they had different schedules.
I feel very bad because I couldn’t practice, and I had to set up my own practices with other people and I felt abandoned” said junior Yanita Arnaudova. “It’s very difficult if you don’t practice and basically we didn’t play at all,”
Not having a coach has been frustrating for all of the players on the tennis team. Many have contemplated not playing this season because of the lack of leadership. Most feel like Arnaudova, that it is too hard to coordinate practices with other people and it’s not the player’s job to organize practice sessions.
That’s when the tennis team got its early Christmas wish. A coach was found to lead this team of wayward athletes. However, the shoes of the old coach will be hard to fill. The team hasn’t met the coach yet, and they are scared about what is about to happen and how the new coach will fit into their team. They are also unsure about how many people are going to be on the team.
“I don’t know how it’s going to work, because (Blake) was one of the best coaches on the island. It’s very difficult to find another one like him,” Arnaudova said.
Arnaudova is the only one that is for sure going to be on the team and the only one that is practicing. She is actively trying to convince others to stay on the team. With the upcoming season starting in January, which is less than one month away, the players said they unprepared for competition. Most sports seasons have three months of preseason before even beginning real practices; they will barely have three weeks. Official tennis practice starts Jan 5.
Even though the tennis team is going through this difficult time, Arnaudova believes that this season will definitely be interesting if they start practicing right away and start being ready for the season. What seems to be the start of a difficult season hopefully might turn out to be a Christmas blessing in the form of a great new coach.