What does it mean to be part of a team? The word team literally means a group of players forming one side in a competitive
game or sport, but the PRHS girls tennis team is more than that, more than just a team. They have a strong bond, unrelenting in loss and extremely joyous in celebration.
Ever since the beginning of the season, we knew we did not want to be a socially divided team. We wanted to have fun together, fail together, and make huge strides with each other. So we asked ourselves, “what allows the team to be successful on and off the court?”
1. Team Bonding
Arguably, the most important part of a team is the personal connections you have with one another. It is not only about the relationships on the court or the field, it’s about being connected. Will you guys be there for one another? Not only does this type of mentality encourage the growth of athletes, but also strengthens the value of teamwork. You stop playing for yourself and you play for the team. The PR Girls Tennis team takes team bonding to the next level. From spontaneous trips to Dunkin’ or Yogi Bee, lunch at Panera, or our legendary Tennis Bake-Off, the tennis team has one of the strongest, unbreakable bonds, not only person to person, but the team altogether.
2. Discipline
Each and every person on a team should have discipline. Showing up to practice on time, encouraging teammates, and maintaining good sportsmanship are all parts of discipline. Discipline is mainly personal. One thing the tennis team does to keep up a level of discipline is watching each other play till the end. Even if it is -30 degrees Fahrenheit and someone is still playing on the courts, you can see the team lurking nearby. Once self discipline is gained, it becomes a group discipline, a solid foundation of competitiveness and hard work.
3. Motivation
The main thing about motivation is shifting your perspective from playing to win to playing for the team. Successful teams do not worry about winning or losing; they play their best. Sometimes, the results will reflect that other times it won’t. Tennis is a sport where you could play the best match of your life and still lose 6-0, 6-0. Mr. Awais, the girls’ varsity tennis coach always says to be a “goldfish.” Goldfish have a 10 second memory span, so when you are thinking like a goldfish you are forgetting the bad and good things you just did and restarting. After every point, every goal, every basket, win or lose, reset and erase the memory. Every point is a new point, anything can happen.When you’re losing and your main focus is to win, you’ll most likely get frustrated, which is why it is important to shift your focus from winning to playing your best and have the memory of a goldfish, you cannot change what happened in the past.
4. Drive
How passionate are you? How competitive are you? A main part of winning and connecting a team is a common drive. Everyone should be putting in effort and maintaining an active presence within the team. Drive is also about putting the extra work in when no one’s watching. For example, before tennis tournaments at around 7:30 AM, the tennis team runs, not only to get warmed up, but to get in a confident locked-in state. We also practice during the off-season to keep up with activity. The tennis team is a firm believer in hard work, not only in a match, but also in practice too. You have to work when it doesn’t count, or the work doesn’t count at all.
5. Support
Lastly, one of the most important things on here, if not the most important is support. Supporting your teammates and encouraging them correlates to a stronger bond and uplifted spirits. Support comes in cheers and words of encouragement, but it can also come from advice. You should always strive to make your team better and watch how other people play, so you can help them and even learn from them. Being in a team is not about competing with each other, it is about being a unified front that encourages each other to do better. Oftentimes, tennis matches will go till dark. By this point, people are playing for more than 2 hours and the sun is setting. Playing high pressure matches is extremely difficult and stressful, but you will never see one person still playing and the rest of the team not there. We don’t leave each other when we need it because we are a team, and that’s what a team does.
A special shoutout to our seniors: Mary Grace Craffey, Grace Larson, Brianna Fazio, and Amanda Gorrin. Thank you for making this year so special, we wish you guys all the best in your future endeavors. TALONS OUT! Lots of love, your team.
