“A goal of mine this season was to work my way up onto varsity to be able to play as a starter. Eventually, I got to play as a starter about halfway through this season. Mainly I just wanted to improve and continue to get better for next season,” Alexis Wrate said.
However, Wrate was not new to the sport of tennis because she played before high school.
“The first time I played tennis was when I was in fifth grade, I think. I played for a few months then quit because I didn’t like the place I took lessons at. Then, when I got to high school, I decided to try out for the team because I like the sport a lot and wanted to start playing again,” Wrate said.
Her main motivation to play tennis was for fun and this season was exactly that.
Although this season was fun for players, the tennis team will be split in two next year. The girls’ team will play in the fall and the boys’ team will compete in the spring. The reason for the split is that WHS is switching leagues next year. The league the school is currently in has tennis in the spring for both girls and boys. However, next year’s league is divided, which means there will be a major change for the tennis team.
“I think it is good and bad. It is good because there will be less people, so we will all get more court time to practice and improve and get one-on-one help from the coach. However, we always have fun together as a team so it will be different without the guys there,” Wrate said.
“I think next year’s season is going to be really fun. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to have the same coach as the past two years, but I think Coach Bosco will make it really enjoyable for us all,” Wrate said.