Tennis unlike many sports, lasts all year around. For doubles part- ners, seniors Cynthia Arteaga and Stephanie Downs, joining tennis and being apart of the program has been a great opportunity.
This requires many days of prac- tice and, dedicated players who are passionate for the sport.
“We have practice every A day after school, and we also have an 8th period Tennis Class,” Downs said. “Our tournaments are on Fri- day’s, and during our regular sea- son, matches were on Thursdays.”
Tennis gives the players the op- portunity to play either solo against one opponent, or with a partner against two opponents.
“In singles, you only have one opponent and the space available to play in is more narrow and con- strained,” Arteaga said. “In doubles, two people play against two people and you’re allowed to use the entire court.”
For Arteaga, tennis was a sport she joined to have fun while trying something new for a change.
“I was introduced to tennis by a friend at the end of my sophomore year,” Arteaga said. “I thought it might be a fun way of finishing up all of my PE credits. I am glad I made that decision.”
As the season progresses, the doubles partners continue to im- prove from the many days of prac- ticing.
“During the Akins tournament my doubles partner, Arteaga and I, won first place consolation in girl’s doubles,” Downs said.
“Which means they lost the first
game, but won the following game that they played,” tennis coach Richard Kelly said.
Even if tennis isn’t a major rec- ognized sport here at Akins, Arteaga and Downs have come a long way since they first joined.
“This will be my second year,” Arteaga said. “I wish I had been in- troduced to it much earlier though. The sport isn’t popular here at Akins, but I love it.”
“Also, I like that playing doubles teaches me better communication,” Downs said.
As the school year comes to an end, so does the tennis season, both Arteaga and Downs turned the sea- son into a learning experience and are always looking forward to fu- ture improvements.
“I feel good about our overall season so far,” Downs said. “We’ve gotten a lot better. I look forward to doing even better in our tourna- ments.”
Tennis practice has helped each individual train and prepare to compete against upcoming oppo- nents, while having a stress free environment.
“Everyone is there to improve and that’s always relieving,” Artea- ga said. “Also the most passionate people go to practice, I love it.”
The Tennis program not only taught the double partners how to play a sport in which they now love, but help them build an automatic bond not only between themselves, but as well as with the rest of the program according to both Downs and Arteaga.
“My favorite part about playing doubles would be playing with my Cynthia,” Downs said. “She’s my best friend and I get to share our suc- cessful moments with her.”
