By Karen Phan, Staff Writer
Freshman Kaylee Tran has been playing tennis for approximately half of her life, which is how she learned up the skills and experience that helped her make the varsity team in her freshman year. Earlier this year she played for Fountain Valley’s Junior Team Tennis (JTT), but now she is focused solely on playing for the school team.
The first day of the tennis summer camp was a bit nerve wracking for Tran because she was a newcomer. She noticed that everyone at the summer camp seemed to know each other which made her uncomfortable. However, she was able to make new friends through daily practices with her future teammates.
According to her, practicing and sweating together helps a lot when it comes to making friends. Though the varsity team is primarily composed of upperclassmen, Tran has established a close bond with many of her teammates. The team seldom gets together outside of practice, but the practices were enough for them to become tight. Her teammates have been supportive of her and have helped her find her place on the team. Being one of the few freshman on the girls’ varsity tennis team proves to be both a pressuring and exhilarating experience for Tran.
“Well, it was a long time goal of mine to try and make varsity tennis my freshman year since I had been playing for so long. At first I was excited, but then it kinda hit me, considering varsity is what represents the school and how high the expectations were,” said Tran.
In order to cope with the high expectations and pressure, Tran avoids the thought of it as best as she can. She admits it’s not a good thing to do, but focusing on the match and what’s happening in the moment improves her performance during games. Tran says her experience on varsity tennis is still cool and unique, despite the weight of the title.
Tran highly encourages those who are interested in playing tennis to take up the sport or try it out as a hobby.
“Tennis is a great sport, and it’s really easy to pick up and learn if you really set your heart to it,” said Tran.
While having swimming for a long time, Tran believes that as of now, it’s unlikely she may join the school’s swim team because she plans on giving it her all in tennis. She looks forward to continuing her tennis career in the future and hopes to improve in her skills in singles matches.
