No more home meets for Varsity tennis

Michael Simmons, Blue M Sports Editor

Playing on the court, you spend countless hours working your tail off in order to improve and having your friends and family there to cheer you on and support you is a special feeling and experience for a high school athlete.

For the seniors on the girls Varsity tennis team, it does not look like they will get the chance to experience that feeling again due to the condition of the tennis courts at both Manhattan High and City Park.

“I think that it is a little ridiculous that we can’t host a home meet,” senior Neely Joyce said. “It’s not one person’s fault or the school’s fault but it definitely is less cared about than other sports. It’s a little frustrating for people like me and others on the team who spends most of their time playing the sport, so it would be nice to be appreciated and cared about enough that we are able to host a home meet.”

There are several holes in the courts both at MHS and at City Park, causing some dead spots for the ball.There are several holes in the courts both at MHS and at City Park cause dead spots that greatly influence how the ball travels.

“For high level varsity matches, players can get really upset if the ball happens to hit that spot on a winning point,” Joyce said. “Also the nets have holes in them and the holes in the courts are also a safety issue for the players so it just wasn’t a good idea for us to host a meet.”

Tony Ingram, the head coach of MHS’s girls Varsity tennis team, moved the team’s previous meet to Junction City in order to greatly reduce the risk of injuring a player and increase the efficiency of the game. The team does not have another home scheduled, although they will be hosting the Centennial League meet in Topeka on Oct. 2 .

“I don’t really know if there’s one person at fault,” Joyce said. “I think that both the school and the city could pay more attention to what’s going on and try to remedy the problem,  but I think that they’re making progress on fixing it. Coach Ingram is meeting with the city to try to remedy the problem.”

The team was able to host a JV meet earlier this season, but due to the difference in the level at which Varsity plays at compared to the level that JV plays at, Varsity did not have a home meet.

“I think that raising awareness about the situation is key,” sophomore Joanna Park said. “Raising awareness will let people who can actually fix the problem know about it, which would then lead to a solution.”