High School Tennis Should Mirror College

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by Mitch Bridge

Is this the mission in football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, volleyball, etc. Not a chance! Of course it creates the bulk of the interest for all of these other sports. High school is the pinnacle of their sports careers and it should be in tennis also.

But this is not the reason they have these sports in high school.

Aside from that, high school tennis is not going to be the pinnacle for many if you limit varsity to six players. It will drive people away from the sport for the reasons I mentioned above.

[Mitch Bridge]

"But this is not the reason they have these sports in high school. "

Most players get cut from high school teams, so what is the reason they have high school sports?

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by Mitch Bridge

"But this is not the reason they have these sports in high school. "

Most players get cut from high school teams, so what is the reason they have high school sports?

And you are proposing to let less people play varsity - to generate more interest.

[Mitch Bridge]

Originally Posted by sundaypunch

And you are proposing to let less people play varsity - to generate more interest.

Yes. Quality will bring prestige, and prestige will bring more players to high school tennis. It will bring in more fans as well.

[InspectorRacquet]

Decreasing the amount of varsity players will have only one effect in high school: less interest in the sport.

High school is only four years long. Not much time to practice to get to the top 6 in the school. If any kid knows that much, he/she will never join tennis because he/she knows that they will never get to play.

No one in high school cares about the quality of a tennis match. The average student passing by can't always tell what is a good match and what isn't. If they can't play, they won't bother to sign up or try out. The fact that there are 12 varsity slots creates more interest, because there are more opportunities to play at all.

[Mitch Bridge]

Having more varsity spots kills the quality of the sport, and that like of quality hurts tennis' reputation amongst other athletes.

Preparing for a varsity sport doesn't start in high school. It starts in elementary school.

It is hard enough to have 6 good players, and 12 is impossible unless you are a private school and recruiting the entire city.

If more players was the answer than golf would have bigger teams instead of the qualitative number they currently have-5. Golf knows how to market itself! Every golfer on varsity can flat out play. Varsity tennis?...not so much!

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by Mitch Bridge

Having more varsity spots kills the quality of the sport, and that like of quality hurts tennis' reputation amongst other athletes.

Preparing for a varsity sport doesn't start in high school. It starts in elementary school.

It is hard enough to have 6 good players, and 12 is impossible unless you are a private school and recruiting the entire city.

If more players was the answer than golf would have bigger teams instead of the qualitative number they currently have-5. Golf knows how to market itself! Every golfer on varsity can flat out play. Varsity tennis?...not so much!

Have you noticed that no one has agreed with you yet? You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I don't think you are going to convoke many / any that it is a good idea.

[InspectorRacquet]

Originally Posted by Mitch Bridge

Having more varsity spots kills the quality of the sport, and that like of quality hurts tennis' reputation amongst other athletes.

Preparing for a varsity sport doesn't start in high school. It starts in elementary school.

I'm not trying to be overly argumentative here (or trying to cause a bad reaction), but here are two final reactions I have to say:

1) Having more varsity spots does not kill the quality of the sport. I don't know how it does or how it ever will. It may affect the reputation (the "if you can make varsity..." stance) amongst other athletes, but athletes definitely aren't going to give up their high school sport for tennis.

2) Preparing for a varsity sport doesn't start in elementary school. No one starts a sport in elementary school thinking "I need to start training now if I'm going to make varsity in high school." That only comes into effect if the player is very good in middle school. Otherwise, most only think to train starting freshman year - but definitely not elementary school.

[andfor]

Sadly in today's world there are some parents who have their kid specialize in a sport early. Many schools in sports like basketball or baseball (there are others) don't have enough roster room to accept all the kids who try out. Not saying specializing so young is right. Just stating the obvious about participation levels vs. roster spots in H.S.

[crazygamer2091]

Limiting varsity spots will definitely not help the game whatsoever. The town next to where I live, South Brunswick, had a huge dilemma because of this last season. Their varsity team has been division champs for the past 3 years because none of their starters left. This coming season, it will be the same deal leaving no spots for any players on JV to move up. When the players on JV realized this, 3/4's of the team quit. There is no motivation to play especially when you realize you're not going to get a starting spot on Varsity. Why waste time making varsity and be benched the whole season when you could spend your time elsewhere to improve your game like playing tournaments?

[Mitch Bridge]

Originally Posted by crazygamer2091

Limiting varsity spots will definitely not help the game whatsoever. The town next to where I live, South Brunswick, had a huge dilemma because of this last season. Their varsity team has been division champs for the past 3 years because none of their starters left. This coming season, it will be the same deal leaving no spots for any players on JV to move up. When the players on JV realized this, 3/4's of the team quit. There is no motivation to play especially when you realize you're not going to get a starting spot on Varsity. Why waste time making varsity and be benched the whole season when you could spend your time elsewhere to improve your game like playing tournaments?

It looks like all of the good players go to your school. They should be attending all of the schools equally in your area. If 50 kids go out for tennis and 9 make varsity, and the rest don't quit, obviously varsity is not the motivation to play. Your argument is lacking based on this factor and your team being loaded with all of the city's players. Spread the wealth! Then you would have competitive matches as well which strengthens the sport.

[Mitch Bridge]

Originally Posted by sundaypunch

Have you noticed that no one has agreed with you yet? You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I don't think you are going to convoke many / any that it is a good idea.

Hopefully I am just ahead of the curve. Without great matchups, you don't have great team tennis. Tennis is not deep enough to have so many spots, then the teams are out of balance. Balancing the depth will make it turn into a good team sport. Now all of the best kids go the same school. With 6 spots this won't happen nearly as much.

[goran_ace]

I went to a private high school that was absolutely loaded with tennis players. Tennis had absolutely nothing with my decision to go there, nor any of my teammates. We went there for the quality of the academics and the culture/tradition/reputation of the school, it just so happened we had the best of the best tennis players in the area all in one place. Not just tennis players, but other sports too.

The only time I have ever known of players choosing a high school specifically for sports is in the case of sports like hockey or lacrosse where not every school has a team.

[MarTennis]

Originally Posted by sundaypunch

Have you noticed that no one has agreed with you yet? You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I don't think you are going to convoke many / any that it is a good idea.

...I agree with Mitch. Not that I claim expert credentials or anything. I do believe high school tennis is under utilized as a means of creating and supporting "more better, players." Keep pushing Mitch.

[crazygamer2091]

Originally Posted by Mitch Bridge

It looks like all of the good players go to your school. They should be attending all of the schools equally in your area. If 50 kids go out for tennis and 9 make varsity, and the rest don't quit, obviously varsity is not the motivation to play. Your argument is lacking based on this factor and your team being loaded with all of the city's players. Spread the wealth! Then you would have competitive matches as well which strengthens the sport.

Who said anything about all the good players going to my school? I clearly said that the town next to me. As for spreading the wealth, refer to my post a few days prior about the high school tennis being only competitive at 1st and 2nd singles around here because of the number of nationally ranked players that decide to play.

Frankly, I feel like you're being rather stubborn. You proposed an idea and almost everyone is against it. I think it's time you backed down a bit and take a closer look at what we've all been saying Mitch instead of downplaying it and continuing to try to prove your point to no prevail. Have a nice day.

[barringer97]

This is actually a pretty good idea, it would be a lot more competitive, that's for sure.

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by MarTennis

...I agree with Mitch. Not that I claim expert credentials or anything. I do believe high school tennis is under utilized as a means of creating and supporting "more better, players." Keep pushing Mitch.

This I have no problem with. I just think that his method for "improving" HS tennis would have the opposite effect of what he suggests.

[Mitch Bridge]

Originally Posted by crazygamer2091

Who said anything about all the good players going to my school? I clearly said that the town next to me. As for spreading the wealth, refer to my post a few days prior about the high school tennis being only competitive at 1st and 2nd singles around here because of the number of nationally ranked players that decide to play.

Frankly, I feel like you're being rather stubborn. You proposed an idea and almost everyone is against it. I think it's time you backed down a bit and take a closer look at what we've all been saying Mitch instead of downplaying it and continuing to try to prove your point to no prevail. Have a nice day.

Your team...the team in the next town. Basically the same argument that mirroring college tennis will help spread the players out amongst more schools and the result is better competition. This will appear to hurt the dynasties, but things will settle in and high school tennis will be better off for it. Among most of the schools that I have had students involved in (hundreds) 20 to 50 kids go out for tennis. Most of these kids aren't looking to make varsin their 4 years of playing, so they aren't going to quit if the varsity team is shrunk. They may become more interested because they are developing much faster playing singles and doubles and having many more matches at the JV and Frosh/Soph levels.

[goran_ace]

Sorry but I don't see tennis as a compelling reason for a family to move to another town/district (to attend a different public school), and for some families private school just isn't an option. So I don't see how this will spread out the talent among schools, if anything it would just reduce access to the sport.

Tennis is an expensive sport. The private schools and the public schools in wealthy neighborhoods will always have a bigger pool of players to draw from.

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by barringer97

This is actually a pretty good idea, it would be a lot more competitive, that's for sure.

Our 'conference' already did that and now our team consists of 6 guys from Europe and 2 from South America. The scrubs are locals, though, and they learn a lot at practice. They don't just bring the water. They do some of the stringing, too! One of the local kids got USRSA certified over the summer.

Kidding. Just a sad bit of satire on division I college tennis today, haha.

Best of luck w HS tennis. I played it. Loved it, even though most matches were a joke. The ones that were great, were great, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Of course that was back in the 80s when life was simpler.