11 Things for 2011

I've been counting down the things I'm excited for in the 2011 season, thought I should go ahead and finish!

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman
#6 - New JV Tournament

#5 - Creating an Atmosphere of Focus

#4 - Adding a New Chapter to Rivalries

Over the years of my coaching, one of the things I find most exciting is the rivalry matches. These are the matches with stories that extend beyond the current season. These are the teams that we constantly have close battles with, teams that eliminate us from Sectionals, teams that year after year we get excited to play and hopefully beat.

Our closest rivals shift over time, but certainly they always start with schools in our Sectional. When I started coaching, I even these repeated matchups weren't really "rivalries" because we got thumped all the time by everybody. Slowly that started to change. In 2007 (5 years into my coaching) we got our first Sectional victory, defeating Fairfield 3-2. That team was full of senior's who were expected to win that Sectional. A close match, a close victory, a story. A rivalry was set.

In our next match, we defeated Goshen 3-2. It happened in the closest of all fashions, a third set tiebreak in the deciding match. Johnny Kauffman and Jeremy Thomas were down 6-3 in the tiebreak, and came back to win it 8-6. 5 straight points under the most difficult of pressures. A close match, a close victory, a story. Another rivalry was set.

In the Sectional final, we lost to NorthWood 3-2. It was a match that we had opportunities to win. They returned 5 players to that team for the 2008 season, so we knew we'd see them again. A close match, a disappointment, another story. Another rivalry was in place.

Since that 2007 season, we've had tons of storylines about these Sectional rivals. For 2 straight years, we knocked Fairfield out of the Sectional. They've turned around and knocked us out of 2 straight. Since that first victory over Goshen we've added 5 more. They're hungry to beat us now. The rivalries aren't as fierce with Jimtown and NorthWood right now, because we've managed to win several matches in a row over both of those teams in convincing fashions. Jimtown is certainly an up-and-coming rivalry, with our close match this year and their entire returning varsity for next season. The same may be said for NorthWood soon.

I can't wait to keep adding chapters to these rivalry stories. Win or lose, these are the matches we remember. These are the matches that form us. Hopefully, these are the matches that bring us together.

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman
#6 - New JV Tournament

#5 - Creating an Atmosphere of Focus

As with all seasons, the goal of practice is to improve. The goal of the whole season is to be playing our best tennis when the season ends, when we compete for Sectional. Last season, we had a whole contingent of experienced players who helped lead us through their actions. This season, 2/3's of our team is underclassmen.

So, the atmosphere of practice is actually something that we cannot assume, instead it is something we are going to have to create. And the number one thing that I want to create in my players practice experience is the ability to focus on a specific task.

It's not going to be easy. With only 1 coach for 21 players, there are going to be many times when the players are completely on their own for a segment of practice. But this again is where the beauty of tennis and life connections comes in. If we can create an atmosphere of focus in tennis, if players will be self-motivated to get better, to stay engaged, to fight laziness... then the this will begin to happen in other areas (schoolwork, chores, jobs, etc.)

In addition to the character development, we will continue to improve right until the last day of the season (which we hope won't come until the second week of October, at least!)

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent
#7 - The Freshman

#6 - New JV Tournament

With 10 freshmen this year, we need opportunities for them to play in cool events. And honestly, the coolest events are the tournaments. In years past, we've won the Jimtown JV Invite, went in and finished 3rd at the Northern Lakes JV Conference Tournament, and competed well in the same tournament last year.

But this year, we're adding a new tournament, and it's over in my old stomping grounds. Not at Angola, just a little north in Fremont. This should be a really fun time, as Fremont was trying to recruit 8 teams to play in the event.

Most importantly, it gives the JV a chance to win something. The varsity prepares all season for Sectional. We have 3 tournaments to try and win. We compete for a place on the plaque by winning more than 70% of our matches. But the JV, well, they compete for the future most of the time. They compete to get better.

Yet at this tournament, they compete to win a tournament. And no matter the competition, they can always go for their best. So we can't wait to play another tourney!

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition
#8 - Playing a New Opponent

#7 - The Freshmen

Every year, new ninth graders show up to practice, not sure of what role they'll be playing on the JV over the next couple of seasons. Most are unsure of the proper way to hit a ball, the positioning needed in a doubles match, how to properly score a tiebreak, all sorts of things.

Not this year.

This year, there is a lot to celebrate about our freshman class! First of all, let's remember that they performed really well during their middle school tennis careers. They are the first class of tennis players to have had the benefit of three full seasons of middle school tennis competition. Not only did they get to play, this past year they went undefeated in our modest season, beating Goshen, Northridge, and Westview. Also, they tied for second in the Angola tournament, where 5 out of 7 of them advanced to the finals.

Secondly, there are a lot of them playing. For the second time in my coaching career at Bethany we've got 10 freshman out for the team. That's incredible. That big number keeps it really fun for them, because they've got friends all around. Also, it means a bunch of people to practice and play with after the season is over, which means we'll all be getting better. Finally, it means competition for the varsity spots (eventually), which can only mean that the most determined, most talented, most committed players will be the ones who make it! I can't wait to see who that is as we have fun over the next four seasons.

But don't think it's all about the future. Oh no, there's at least one or two freshman who have a real shot at making the varsity this year. That's almost unheard of in my time as coach here at Bethany. Only once has a freshman made the varsity, and that was in my very first year of coaching when we only had 10 full-time players. I'm continually looking forward to what this class will do.

You know, because my last class of 10 freshman, well... they won a Sectional.

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition

#8 - Playing a New Opponent
If you've been following this series at all, you'll have noticed that I like new challenges. I like making up new practice schedules, I'm excited that we have a new Sectional champion being funneled into our Regional, and now, I'm excited to say that we have a new team on our schedule this year!

For the first time since I've been coaching, we'll be taking on the Blue Blazers of Elkhart Central. It makes sense, really that we'd play them. We're close and it should be a competitive match. For some on our team, this will be the first time we'll be playing against their home district, which is always exciting.

Unfortunately, this meant that we had to say good-bye to an opponent as well. We lost the Mishawaka Cavemen from our schedule, which was too bad because I know that their coach had the program pointing in the right direction.

So what happened the last time we picked up a new opponent? Well, that would be last year when we went down to face the Columbia City Eagles. That was a great competitive match, but unfortunately for us, a match in which Russell got sick. We went down 3-2, and sure could have used Russell that day. However, it was one of the better matches of the season, and would have been extremely memorable had we been able to squeeze out the 3-2 win instead of feel the 2-3 loss.

I can't wait to play a new team again this year, hopefully this will be the start of a wonderful, friendly, local rivalry!

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. We started today! Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

#10 - New Practice Ideas

#9 - Playing Elite Competition

I've always been one who loved playing against the best. In high school, my basketball team got to play against the 1997 Mr. Basketball in Indiana (Luke Recker) in our regular season and in Sectional. I relish opportunities like that. It's fun, you get outstanding memories, and usually you get better.

This year, we will continue to have opportunities to try ourselves against the best in our area. We will continue to play against Columbia City, and while they aren't Carmel, they did finish 8th in our District Rankings last fall. We will also travel to the Merrillville Invitational, and there we will take on Merrillville (a team that won their Sectional last year) as well as Valparaiso (a team that made the State Finals last year!)

We will also get to see stellar individuals play this year, like Merrillville's Leonard Matthews, Valparaiso's Ben Kalisch, or Concord's Jason Denton. Leonard Matthews and Ben Kalisch were both in their District's top 16 while Denton made ours. Leonard Matthews even made the 2nd team All-State!

I love these opportunities. They will be fun to watch, coach, and play. Look forward in anticipation!

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. We started today! Check out previous posts below.

#11 - New Regional Alignment

New Practice Ideas

One of my greatest joys in life is being creative. Whether it be a lesson for school, a sermon for church, or a practice for tennis, I love the process of arranging things, themes, topics, drills, rituals, games and designing them for reaching the maximum potential. I also love when I have new ways of presenting old (but good) ideas.

This year for tennis, I wanted to be creative. I know we all know the good old drills like "5 Errors" (dominated by Nate today, with a score of 95!) or "Two Ball." And those drills serve a really good purpose, but how can we approach the same old topics, like groundstrokes, volleys, and serves, from new angles?

Well, I've got an idea and we're starting tomorrow. From now until school starts, each practice will be Pro themed. Each practice will pit two stars from the modern or recent professional ranks, and allow us to practice their strengths and work them into our own.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the week, see if you can guess what we'll be working on...
- Tuesday - Sampras v. Agassi
- Wednesday - Nadal v. Djokovic
- Thursday - Federer v. Roddick
- Friday - Chang v. Murray

I'm really excited about this, so that means you'll probably all find it, well, uninspiring. But that's okay, it's still fun for me!

The other new thing I really love about practice this year is "Huddle Time." The idea of course is to deal with our down time effectively, letting it be positive and prepare us for the next point. I'm really enjoying our Huddle Prayers, where we walk out and visualize before practice.

This whole idea of visualization is not new, in fact, I'd invite you to look at some of the things being said on the web about the power of visualizing. I've been really influenced by a sermon I heard online called "Integrated Faith," by Greg Boyd. Look it up if you've got the time!

Anyways, can't wait to get to practice tomorrow and see some Sampras and Agassi, now if only I could get them to come out and hit with us!

11 Things for 2011

Over the next eleven weekdays, I'll be counting down the things that I'm excited for (as a coach) entering the 2011 season. We start on Monday, August 1!

#11 - New Regional Alignment

This summer, the IHSAA went through all levels of the tennis state tournament and constructed new alignments for each round. New Sectionals were made, old ones were scrapped, some teams moved from one Sectional to another.

Our Sectional (Goshen, Fairfield, NorthWood, and Jimtown) remains the same. That's satisfying because over the last 4 years, 4 different teams have won the Sectional, and perhaps the 5th team (Goshen) could be the favorite this year. I love having a competitive Sectional, where no one team dominates, because it gives something to shoot for every single year.

And while the Sectional doesn't bring any change for us, both the Regional and the Semi-State do. This year, should we advance to the Regional, our Regional will include the winners from Concord Sectional, East Noble Sectional, and the DeKalb Sectional. While East Noble and Concord are nothing new, we used to have Warsaw included with us as well. Now Warsaw heads over to Culver Academies, and we welcome the DeKalb Sectional!

We will be familiar with the DeKalb Sectional. It consists of DeKalb, Prairie Heights, Fremont and my alma mater, Angola. We'll have played Angola in a scrimmage (and eaten at the always delicious Pizza King), and played Prairie Heights and Fremont during the regular season. DeKalb will be the only real question mark out of these schools. Last year's winner of this Sectional was Angola.

This could be really fun. I always enjoy playing against Angola, partially because I still know my coaches well and partially because they are always a good match for us. As we scrimmaged them, the results are always close and the matches are always memorable.

We also have changes at the Semi-State level, where we would head to Homestead with a Regional victory. Joining the Concord Regional there are the North Central, Marion and the Homestead Regionals. To see all of the realignments, check the IHSTECA home page.

So, I'm excited the Regional changed and the Sectional didn't. The mix of old and new is good in so many ways headed into the season! We'll be back on Monday with #10!

The Numbers: Multiples of 3

Taking stock of next season is always difficult. We lose our best players, but so does most everybody else. We have to integrate JV players into the varsity, but so does everyone else. We have to welcome a group of new freshman, beginning to build the next generation of tennis lovers, but then again, that's the same challenge facing every team in the state.

So what do we know, what do the facts say about the state of our program? We'll do it in multiples of 3 for all those who want to continue their math education throughout the summer months...

3 - We have three players returning with significant varsity experience. Nate won 16 matches at #3 singles (tying Jonny Shenk for most matches won at that position since I began coaching). Blake Shetler and Evan Grimes racked up good records playing #2 doubles last year, but Blake took 2 significant wins in singles as well.

6 - We have six players who committed to offseason work in lessons. Of course, I always wish that this number was higher. But those who did commit are looking better for it already. Of course, at the clubs they seem to teach hitting the ball hard and not keeping it in, so we'll have some consistency work to do. But playing through the winter gives us a head start on many of our opponents.

9 - Is the number of guys who came to the first Tuesday tennis, and I have to tell you it was a fun time. Not only did I dominate the ping-pong tournament, but my sons also made new friends. Gid's favorite was Andrew but Judah is partial to Parth, I think. It really was a great time!

12 - This is the number of new freshman coming in this year, and I'm excited about every one of them!

So there's some stock of the season, we'll be young, fun, energetic, and learning! I cannot wait to see some more of you soon!

Wednesday Numbers : 19%

Last year, we had 7 JV players make the jump to varsity. Actually, at different times 8 players played varsity who had played JV during the 2008 season. This meant that these players had to adjust. They had a very successful 2008 in the junior varsity ranks (like, undefeated) but varsity is obviously a step up in competitiveness and difficulty. But how much more difficult?

19% more difficult, to be precise. On average, a player going from JV to varsity sees their winning percentage fall 19% in their first season. For example, a player who won 79% of their JV matches would win 60% of their varsity matches in their first year.

Of course, this is an average. What changes this average? What makes some people struggle more and others actually win more on the varsity than they did on JV? Let's break that down and then look at the implications for our team next year.

Factor #1: How big the jump is...

Example: Ben Mast moved up the varsity ladder a full 7 places from 2008 to 2009. Seth Krabill moved up 7 as well. Blake Shetler, by the end of the season, had moved up 8 places! These players ended up with large differences in winning percentages. Ben saw his win percentage drop 34 points, Seth 20, and Blake 44. Much of this had to do with how far they were moving up. When the move is small (#1SJV --> #3S V, for example) the change is much less. In fact, Jonny Shenk actually ended up a percentage point higher when making the jump from high JV to low varsity.

Implication: We will have nobody making this big move this year, except for possibly Evan Grimes. He played matches at #1 doubles JV and #2 doubles JV, and could possibly be moving into those same spots on the varsity. Otherwise, we will have people moving from high JV positions to low varsity positions. Blake, Matt, and others should expect similar winning percentages if they make varsity positions.

Factor #2: How much work is put in...
Example: Austin Loucks made a huge jump last season, from #2DJV (or even #3DJV at times) to a regular #1 doubles player for the varsity. His win percentage only decreased by 8%. That is tiny. He worked his butt off in the offseason, as has been previously mentioned on this blog. Jonny Shenk, in 2007, played every single day that it was sunny in the spring, and actually won a higher percentage of his matches on the varsity than he had on the JV.

Implication: We've had fairly good work ethic among those who are moving up. Blake and Evan took lessons throughout the winter, and despite track practice have come to several open courts. Matt Ebersole swears he'll be working through lessons. Ike Lehman took some lessons. This is the part that we can control, so it must be the thing that we do. We can't control how far we'll have to jump up, that is dictated by graduation. But we can show up and play.

I know I beat that into the ground. But what a difference it makes!

I'm looking forward to this year. All the numbers point toward it being fantastic. Let's just take one example. Let's say that Blake does end up losing 19 percent more than this year. That means he'll still win 14-15 matches next season, with a winning percentage around 60%. And his work shows that number could be even higher.

I'm excited for that. Let's all get excited for that and began (or continue) to play!

Wednesday Numbers: 15%

Today's number represents the winning percentage of this year's freshman. It's not particularly high. That means it isn't all that good. But this post is about hope for the sophomores-to-be, not about the beginnings.

This year's varsity team had a record of 13-7. It's senior members finished with records of 7-4, 13-7, and 10-8. That means that the seniors this year finished with a 61% varsity winning percentage.

Do you know where they started out their freshman year? 14%. Austin Loucks, a near All-District performer this year in doubles, he went 1-8 in his freshman campaign. Actually, as a sophomore he only improved to 4-4. Nick Rebec didn't play his freshman year, but when he began as a sophomore, he was only 1-1.

Now, I could point out several significant things here. First of all, this year's freshman got to play way more matches than those guys did. Ike played 15 matches, Ryan played 10, Wade played 9, and Josh Helmuth played 6. Austin played the most matches of any freshman in his season, and that grand total was 9. So we have had a chance to see more competition and know what it is like.

The second thing to point out. Austin worked on his game significantly in the offseasons, especially between his sophomore and junior, and then junior and senior years. He learned a kick serve, strengthened himself with weight training, committed to better footwork. And not just for tennis, he was committed to being healthy as well. And each year he saw progress because he worked. He went from 1-8 to 4-4 to 7-3 to 13-7. Quite a good progression.

Nick worked on his game too. He and Misha took lessons together at Eastlake. During the past season, Nick committed to try to work on getting to the net. By the end of the season, he was a confident varsity doubles player, almost delivery a Sectional win for us.

The point is, no matter the start, the amount of time spent getting better will pay off. It has been great to see Ryan and Himal playing more tennis than anyone on the team. It is good to see Josh Helmuth and Wade Troyer in their biking shorts, knowing that they are getting in good shape before the season. Well, maybe it is not that good to see them in biking shorts. It was good to P90X with Ike before baseball started.

I'm looking forward to the summer with the freshman class. Looking forward to getting some individual lessons in with many of you and watching your games and maturity grow.

15% to 61%? Those are some numbers that I would like to see again!

Wednesday Numbers: 101

"The most emotional memories, the accomplishments we will be most proud of, the times we will feel most supported by our teammates; these things will come in the crucible of the official season."

Today's number represents the number of days until tennis season begins. This is a number, for me, that is full of anticipation.

I cannot tell you how ready I am for the season to begin. Part of my excitement comes from the way in which we finished last season. Part of my excitement has been built by posting here every weekday for the past month and a half. Part of my excitement has come from the winter conditioning sessions, P90X, and weight training. Part of my excitement comes from 30 middle schoolers running around the tennis court and knowing that 20 high schoolers is much more manageable. More excitement is built from watching some of you hit, whether during open courts or when I walk down to the college on the weekend and see some of you there.

We have a lot of cool things coming up this summer. Individual workouts, team open courts, tennis camp... lot's of games will be played, racquets swung, laughter shared, memories made... but it all comes together for the purpose of playing out the season. The season is the reason that we push ourselves harder when it is not here. The most emotional memories, the accomplishments we will be most proud of, the times we will feel most supported by our teammates, these things will come in the crucible of the official season.

And I think we will form awesome memories. I think we will accomplish many goals. I know that we will feel the support and appreciation of our teammates. We can stand on an August afternoon with racquet in hand, having just completed a exhausting series of crosscourt and down-the-line shots, knowing that we've given our all in practice to be ready for Northridge. We can slump onto the grass outside the fence with all of our teammates after a hot, summer evening run knowing that in a few days we can stand tall with Bethany Christian's first Concord Invitational title. We can enjoy the relaxation of the Magic Wand, the magic burgers and the donuts. We can make a night out video of pure silliness, that we hope will be a precursor to to pictures taken in pure joy, as we hold our Sectional title trophy.

And all of this will begin in 101 days.

Wednesday Numbers : 2008-2009

It's the last real day of the school year for me, tomorrow is a talent show and softball game. So, though this has been done before, I'd like to look back at my favorite memories from 2008-2009, and look ahead to 2009-2010.

Favorite 2008-2009 Tennis Memories

Seniors
Luke Hostetter - Your Sectional final match against Preston was amazing, to watch you dig in and decide that you weren't going to lose, that you were going to make him fight to win. That determination and attitude were the reasons you succeeded at number one for three years.

Jared Schwartzentruber - The maturity and MAJOR step forward that you took after our conversation at Goshen early in the season. You were silently the most assured position we sent out on the court every match after that one. I don't know if people realize, but after playing out of position against Northridge and then losing to Ryan Wengerd, you went 19-1 the rest of the season, only losing in a super tiebreak. That is amazing progress, and it was all a credit to your attitude.

Jonny Shenk - I remember calling you from Camp Amigo to talk about your early season struggles. That conversation gave me a lot of confidence in how deeply you cared for the team and for tennis in general. And you used that passion to do the work. I even love the memory of you falling down on the court after the East Noble match, because caring about something is a lot harder to persist in than succeeding in something. But my favorite Jonny match this year was your dismantling of Brock Bechtel on senior night. You had everything going, and it was fun to watch.

Johnny Kauffman - Honestly, my favorite moment was you stretching while the team played as you battled through your back injury. That showed a lot of leadership, showing up despite not being able to play. Also, the big matches you guys won this year (at Penn, vs. NorthWood), those were awesome. The way you attacked the net with confidence and intimidated others, awesome. The way you pounded down shots out of the I-formation, AMAZING.

Jeremy Thomas - No doubt about it, you played your best match at the biggest time: Sectional Final. You were dominant in that match, and I will always see you as the person who pushed us over the top to win the Sectional. I know, Johnny played well too, but I feel like you were the difference from the first time we played NorthWood to the second. And then you played awesome against East Noble too, to bad they didn't lose until the State final.

Daniel Buschert - Your continual questions about how to get better kept me sharp as a coach this year. I appreciate that. I'm excited that you continue to get better and are heading to college to play. My favorite match this year for you and Mikey was the second time against Concord. They were shell-shocked as you guys didn't even give them a chance. I loved to see that confidence grow.

Matthew Amstutz - I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for this season. You are the reason we had the team spirit that we did. You were such an important part. I wish I could really make you believe that. I am so happy to hear that you are continuing to play. You've got so much potential.

Justin Gregor - Your match at Penn was perhaps the funnest match all season. We were in good spirits because the varsity had already won, and your match sealed the JV's continued undefeated season. It was really fun to see you get better.

Juniors

Mikey Kelly - Your match against Fairfield in Sectional was awesome. You fought yourself mentally the whole third set, and then it just clicked and you began to really play. I don't know what happened to help you hold it together with your back against the wall, but I was really proud of you.

Austin Loucks - Your dedication right after the season was amazing. You came to every open court, every workout session, every weight lifting opportunity. That was exactly what we need from our incoming seniors. I was so glad to see it. Okay, I was super pumped to see that.

Misha Rebec - This past season, your match against Jimtown was a great one. I loved how you jumped to the middle of the net to control doubles matches from there. Playing with Claude wasn't something that you did often, but in that match you guys played well together.

Claude Stickler - Your match at Penn was awesome too. Playing singles against another guy who hit silly shots, spinning all over the place, talking throughout the whole match. It was again a really fun match and memory.

Jake Gerig - Triple Wildebeast. I really don't have anything else to say besides, that every time you came forward and slammed the ball crowd yelling Triple Wildebeast!

Nick Rebec - You had an excellent season, I think it can sometimes go unnoticed. You only lost one match the whole season. But your backhand is awesome. I look forward to seeing it get even better during the summer, and then unleashing on unsuspecting varsities across Northern Indiana.

Sophomores

Seth Krabill - My favorite memory from this season is how much better you've gotten during this offseason. My favorite match memory? Two weeks ago when you played Luke to a tiebreak here at Bethany. That is the hope for the future that I have.

Russell Klassen - Your undefeated season was a thing of beauty. You won singles matches, you won doubles matches. The match at Penn was again my favorite. You and Kyle committed to playing good doubles strategy, and they couldn't withstand your attacking presence and big forehand.

Kyle Miller - Love your big serve. Love your forehand. Loved it when you committed to doubles strategy with Russell in the Jimtown match and continued throughout the season. I think my favorite memory though is when you guys pulled back from behind at Jimtown, in your first doubles match together. A lot of it had to do with your confidence in winning your serve.

Ben Mast - Your commitment is a motivator to me as a coach. People who want to play and give their hearts to this game, they make me want to give my all. You had some great matches last year, your play at the Wayne Invitational and Jimtown Invitational, playing against varsity competition, should give you more heart for this year. You are still an undefeated varsity player, keep that record up! But your Northridge match was amazing. You confidently controlled the last two sets, and it was the first of many varsity wins for you.

Freshman

Blake Shetler - Okay, team camp is certainly the best memory from last season. I knew so little of you. But I was also psyched to see you so many mornings this winter. The team will only continue to be good as long as players stay dedicated. Your dedication is just the start.

Evan Grimes - I'm just glad your mom called the night before tennis started. You improved so much in your first season. To actually end the season with a winning record, considering where you started, that was a real accomplishment.

Matt Ebersole - It's silly, but what made me a little mad has now become a harmless goofy memory. You showing up to practice without shoes on is something I'll never forget.

Tomorrow, I'll move on to what I'm looking forward to. Thanks for the memories so far, each of you.

Wednesday Numbers : 7

TO WIN A SECTIONAL.

How many do we have?

Wednesday Numbers : 15

In my coaching career, the highest total of match wins that anybody had achieved was 15 until 2007. And I only ever had one player (or position) get to that number in a season. That player was Joel King. His senior year he went 15-4.

In all of those years, I also never had a team that seriously competed in the Sectional. Our closest matches in the Sectional were 4-1, and never truly looked like they would be anything but defeats.

In 2007, three positions achieved 15 wins in their season. #1S, Luke Hostetter was 16-6. #3S, Jonny Shenk was also 16-6. #1D, Johnny Kauffman and Jeremy Thomas finished 15-7. #2D was close behind with 14 victories. Not coincidentily, this was the first year we truly competed for a Sectional victory. We defeated Fairfield 3-2, defeated Goshen 3-2, and in that run each of these positions with 15 or more wins had crucial victories to advance us to the next round.

In 2008, we won the Sectional for the first time in Bethany Christian history. Our position record looked like this on the season: #1S, 15-7; #2S, 19-3; #3S, 18-4; #1D, 15-7; #2D, 20-2. In this most successful season, all positions won over 15 matches.

This is a simple observation. Depth of team quality makes a difference on whether a team can win Sectionals. In the 2003-2006 years, we had some high quality players but as a team we were overwhelmed at Sectionals. In 2007, we were only a little short, but were right in the hunt because of overall team quality. In 2008, we were stacked with quality (honestly, we probably had 3 players on the JV that could have won 15 matches for the varsity!)

But 15 seems to be about the number to shoot for. Honestly, that's just the way the numbers play out, I'm thinking that if all positions can win about 13-15 matches, that is probably the needed quality to compete for Sectional titles. And there is some flexibility. But this is a reasonable goal. So next season, I hope everybody will be aiming high. Making their way towards a "magic number" that will help us bring another trophy back to BC.

Wednesday Numbers : 24

That's right, 24. And this is not about the famous show with the incomparable Jack Bauer, although apparently he's had a tussle with Chuck Norris. I've actually never watched one episode of that show.

However, 24 is number that deserves some attention anyway. 24 is the number of open courts left before next season begins. Monday's Important Thing was "Practice" and so this is how many official opportunities Bethany Christian players have left before next season starts.

I point this out as a point of urgency. In other words, when you calculate other ways you may comfort yourself by saying, "Well, it's still four months until the season actually starts." However, if you look at the number of scheduled "practice" times left, that's less than a month. Excuses need to go out the window and we need to start finding ways to get out and play.

Another thing to look at is that we have to get better to compete for higher goals, and this is an opportunity. Teams around us are not yet having open courts, because their guy's coaches also coach the girls. This is an opportunity to take strides beyond some of our rivals, to gain an advantage. And every one of the open courts you let slide away is one less opportunity to improve.

Dedication. 24 times in four months. 24 more times.

Let's start counting them down, and being there. 24...

Wednesday Numbers : 3

There are 3 seasons that stand out as the most successful (on-court) seasons in Bethany Christian history. Those seasons are 1998, 1999, 2008. Those are the 3 seasons that are recorded on the plaque in the gym lobby.

There are some similarities in these programs, so let's take a look at how the number 3 runs through them.

The regular season records of the teams, 16-3, 12-3, 15-4. It may look as if the 2008 team is throwing off the theme of 3, but keep in mind that those four losses came to only 3 different teams, as 2008 team lost twice to Concord.

At least 3 players who played college tennis (or are considering it)
1998: Aaron Wieand, Andrew Lanctot, Aaron Lehman
1999: Aaron Wieand, Andrew Lanctot, Andrew Kauffman
2008: Jonny Shenk, Daniel Buschert, Luke Hostetter?

3 positions with over 75% winning percentage:
1998: #1S, #2S, #3S
1999: #1S, #2S, #1D
2008: #2S, #3S, #2D

3-2 wins over Fairfield

2-3 losses to Concord

3 players on each team who go by Biblical names without shortening them.

3 is the favorite number of the coach.

3 teams in which Andrew Lanctot is involved.

#3S was a position that won a lot for each of these years, compared to other lower achieving teams (Mike Mallot was 18-1 for 1998, Andrew Kauffman played 1999, Jonny Shenk 17-5 in 2008)

3 (x2) - okay, this is stretching it but these teams combined for 6 trophies (2 LaVille, 2 Lakeland, 1 Wayne, and 1 Sectional)

I'm sure there is more and more and more... but I'm running out of concrete knowledge, so I'll stop now.

(P.S. Notice how more was repeated three times, I'm so tricky!)