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Show Girls' serve up first round of tennis competition By G.BRETT HART Area girls high school tennis teams served up their first round of region play last week in what will prove to be an ex- citing main course of tennis action this season. Bountiful's Jack Senninger is gearing gear-ing up for the short season. Senninger has been the girls' tennis coach for over 10 years. He looks to improve on last year's record but realizes that Region Six features some of the toughest girls' 3A tennis in the state. Last year the Braves took seventh in state and third in region play. "Our team should be stronger this year. We have everyone back; we didn't graduate anyone last year said Senninger. "We're better, but so is the region. Last year, the top five teams at state were from Region Six Because of the top level tennis played in the region, Senninger gears his program toward teaching mental toughness, L- "The season is too short to teach strokes, so we spend most or our time on mental discipline." explained Senninger. "I want my girls to learn to not to quit, be smart on the court and how to recognize and eliminate errors. "The key to tennis is staying focused. Senninger's philosophy of tennis revolves around having fun and building confidence in the players. According to Senninger, tennis teaches athletes to improve constantly and be responsible for their actions. "In tennis, you've got to learn from your mistakes, or there's no progress," said Senninger. "You're out on the court all by yourself. You take all the credit for success and all the blame for failure." The Braves will feature Christine Bamett in the number one singles spot backed up by Amy Westergard. Bountiful beat Woods Cross in the season's first match Sept. 6, 5-0. First year coach Judy Allen will lead an improved Darts girls' tennis team this year. The Darts jumped off to an impressive im-pressive week one showing defeating both Clearfield and Roy 5-0. Allen attributes Davis' potential success to the off season programs in stigated by assistant coach Ann Dale. "Ann has done a tremendous job," said Allen. Allen transferred to Davis from Syracuse Jr. High where she coached track. At Davis her duties will include coaching tennis and track while teaching physical education and health. The Davis team features returning region champion Julie Barett who will lead the Darts in the number one singles position. Barett will be backed by sophomore Liz Watkins who plays in the number two singles position. According to Allen, Barett and team captain Heidi Hall will be the strength of the team combined with Kate mtniraih, who is Hall's partner, in the number one doubles position. "I've told the girls that the number one doubles position will carry the pressure this year," said Allen. "Our success will probably come down to them." "They are extremely capable, and their work in the winter will really pay off." Allen believes that an athlete's success is determined during the athlete's secondary school career. SEE TENNIS C-2 stinct. "This is a great sport for girls to learn in high school because there isn't as big of a gap between the abilities abili-ties of men and women. "This is a sport you can play for a lifetime, but it can be frustrating because of the narrow margin of error. It's a game of concentration and finesse.' Glover said that tennis teaches concentration and responsibility. "When you're out there, you can't blame anyone else for what happens." said Glover. The Wildcats will be led by Molly Mason who is a ninth grader attending atten-ding South Davis Junior High. Sophomore Vicky Wood, who played for the 'Cats last year as a ninth nin-th grader, will fill the number two singles spot. JULIA BRADLEY t - , " TENNIS CONT. FROM C-1 Allen, who has coached athletes at the University of Utah and the University Uni-versity of New Mexico, gave up her New Mexico job to coach junior high and high school athletes. "Students who learn good study habits and how to sec and achieve goals in high school tend to be successful," said Allen. "If an athlete doesn't learn how to set goals before they're in college, col-lege, they never will." Allen wants her girls to learn more than tennis as they come through her program. "I want them to learn how to be a little better every day. I want them to learn now to set and achieve their goali," said Allen. I want them to have fun memories, too. Not fun in the sense that we got together and had a good time, but fun in the sense that we they learned to challenge themselves and be successful." suc-cessful." Allen describes her program as well structured and tough. She expects the Darts to be, at the minimum, region contenders. If the Darts' performance during week one of region competition is any indicator, in-dicator, Davis will do just that. Viewmont's Julia Bradley is beginning her third season as the Viking Vik-ing girls' tennis coach. The Vikings got off to a solid start beating Roy 4-0 (with one match rained out) on Sept. 4. Bradley, a former BYU tennis player, was reluctant to use the match as an indicator of how her team will do during the season. Rather than put pressure on her girls to win matches or even region, Bradley has one goal for her tennis players. She wants them to use tennis as a tool for increasing their self esteem. "Tennis is different than almost every other sport," said Bradley. "It's 90 percent mental and totally individual. It brings out the best and the worst in people. "My job as a coach is to help players take the worst and use that negative energy to make themselves better. When players make mistakes, they ' 'should be able to" accept that they aren't perfect When they hit a good shot, they should reel I ask my players to give me 110 percent," said Bradley. "I don't care if they win or lose; I just want them to be able to say I did the very best I could when they come off the court." Bradley said that her coaching career has mainly been on the grass roots level. She has coached privately and helped various tennis pros run community tennis programs. Bradley became involved with the Viewmont tennis team by a fluke. She started three years ago assisting a close friend who had agreed to help the team. During that season, Bradley's friend was unable to continue con-tinue and the job ' 'fell into her lap. ' ' "Our goal isn't winning," said Bradley. "It's making each girl on the team feel she's of worth." Viewmont lost to Davis 3-2 in a practice match Aug. 30 and had a bye Sept. 6. Woods Cross coach Craig Glover has lead the Wildcats girls' team for eight years. This year. Glover faces the overwhelming over-whelming challenge of starting his program from scratch. He describes this year's Wildcat girls tennis team as young, inexperienced inex-perienced but enthusiastic. "It's tough," said Glover. "We've only had a week to practice. Because everyone's so new, we've had to spend that time learning basic rules of the game. "You don't really have a chance to see everyone play, and you don't even get around to teaching strokes until the season has already started." In spite of the challenges, Glover approaches his task with a positive attitude. at-titude. "I don't put a lot of pressure on the girls. I just want them to feel like they played well in spite of what their opponent op-ponent is doing," said Glover. "I feel like the girls need to learn physical skills first and then work on mental ability. The difference between be-tween a good player and an average one, however, is the mental, killer in- JACK SENNINGER , vif j w..( J L JUDY ALLEN P , mwmwnw 'v V CRAIG GLOVER |