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Show A Girl Playing Boys Tennis? if " - If f 7 iyB""! . - ' 4? f ;i f 1 ' "On court three Martinez and Nilsen, East Carbon, and Deutschlander and Hartlmaur, Parowan," said Bruce Vetter, first alternate for the PCHS tennis team who doubled as the official starter for the State Tournament. So Patty Martinez and Robert Nilsen took the court for number two doubles. Minutes later Martinez and Nilsen won their first match 6-0, 6-2 over Deutschlander and Hartlmaur losing to the eventual champions Collyn Adamson and Scott Pirraglio from Park City. But wait a minute. Isn't this supposed to be boy's tennis? Everybody knows boys play better than girls, or do they? Just what is a girl doing here anyway? It's simple. Sixteen year old Patty Martinez is better than anybody else East Carbon had. Last year Martinez played number one girl's singles as a freshman. This year the girls do not field a team so Martinez- played with the boys. Tennis is not the hottest item in East Carbon High School. They had only two preseason matches with Green River High School before traveling to the regionals. Martinez and Nielsen won both matches against Green River and then lost in the first round to Montecello. They reached the state tournament by defeating Green River again. So Martinez proved she 11 i j.1 1 Region 10, 1A school Parowan, said ninth grader Mary LeFever tried out for his team and would have made it if she decided to stay. "She had a lot of peer pressure from the guys and kids at school so she decided to drop off," Cranford said. "At this level I think most of the girls could be competitive because it's not the power of the strokes (that determines the winner) but it's who hits it in the last time." Cranford said many of the boys play baseball and run track so they don't think of tennis as a macho sport, consequently there are not enough boys coming out for tennis. Martinez said she had no - k- i.. . .... SET .iimi nut - .. m,m.m Patty Martinez - "They kidded me until we started playing." couia piay wnn ine ooys. "I keep up with the boys in my school. They practice with me and I like playing with them," Martinez said. Dave Wilkey, assistant executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association, said he was not aware, a girl was playing in the boys state tournament. The legality of a girl playing entered a "grey area" and he was sure the Board of Direcors would want to address it. "We have nothing written down covering it. But there might not be a problem because she comes from a school whose president is on the Board of Directors," Wilkey said. Wilkey said that Leslie Pierce, from 3A high school Timpview, wanted to play for the boys team but she could not because she played for the girls team whose season finished last fall and she played in a girls state tournament. If there was no girls state tournament Pierce may have been allowed to play for the mens team. Bob Cranford, coach of problems with peer -pressure. "One time we went to Green River and I was kidded. One boy said 'A girl' then they all kidded me until we started playing," Martinez said. "Then they quieted down." t She said although her game improved by playing against a boys team she preferred playing on a girls team. Martinez comes from a tennis playing family. Her brothers perked her interest for the game. "When I was little I picked up tennis balls for my brothers whle they practiced their serves." Martinez said. "One day they gave me a racquet and said to hit it back. "That's when I became scared of the boy's serve," Martinez grinned. "But now I'm pretty much used to the faster serve and with the boys I play with now it's just a maner of who hits the better shot." And as her record shows Martinez has hit the "better shot" many times. |