In recent years, the Millbrook Men’s Tennis team has been one of the hardest working, yet most hidden gems within Millbrook sports. However, this is quickly becoming less true for the team due to the increasing interest and growing strength of the players. Tennis is a sport that has recently become more popular among Millbrook students, resulting in a Men’s JV team being formed for the first time this year. The reason for creating this team lies mostly in what head varsity coach, Mr. Medina, after being asked, credited as, “In a sport where only the top six or so players get to compete, there can be some frustration from players who only practice and never get to contend.” Because of the full schedule of sixteen matches that the tennis team competes in each season, the discontentment felt by some players being limited to solely practicing has now been met with a solution. This is thanks to Ms. Romano, who stepped up this year to coach the newly founded JV team. Matches are now set specifically for both JV and Varsity players, similar to other sports at Millbrook.

 Tennis, as earlier mentioned, is a sport that relies heavily on the top six team performers who compete in matches against other strong conference opponents. Due to the fact that only half of Millbrook’s varsity team this year consists of returners, and that six of the ten varsity players are ninth and tenth graders, the team is very young. The returners who will lead the Varsity team this year include senior Alex Crabtree, senior Ben Burris, junior Gabe Troch, junior David Brunetz, and sophomore Ian Brown. Although his team is young, Coach Medina believes that they “will be a force to be reckoned with this season,” as he also stated that he is “very excited in terms of talent.” While this is true, opponents within the Cap-7 Conference typically yield strong tennis teams, which Millbrook is looking forward to as a challenge in the season ahead. In order to prepare for these challenges, practices consist of heavy focus and drills that are targeted towards developing specific skills. The team also utilizes competitive play and fitness work to ensure that they are ready for matches.

 Although the tennis team sets their physical and competitive goals high, Coach Medina is intent on developing his players as people. He does this by reminding the team that his goal is “to help improve who they are as people first, and that it is great if they get better at tennis along the way.” While the team’s goal is to to make it to States and take the title, Coach Medina primarily values his players leaving the tennis program as better young men. So, wish both the JV and Varsity teams luck in the season ahead, and if you have a free afternoon, check out one of their matches!