by Theresa Garee

The Canal Winchester Girl’s Tennis team took eight players to Kingston, Ontario in August. The team visited Kingston for a week and participated in conditioning and practices with the week ending in a Canada vs. USA themed tennis match.

“Our tennis trip to Canada had two goals; tennis development and team bonding. We practiced twice a day and played a match against a talented group of Canadians on the fourth day of our trip. In between practices, we held team bonding sessions and did fun lake activities like swimming and tubing. I hope our athletes are able to learn the value of comradery and how that helps to motivate each other as they work to bring success to our program,” Coach Leyton Mathias said.

Mathias, who is in his second year as coach, places team building at the top of his coaching goals.

A goal that seems to be common among the players as well.

“The best part about traveling to Canada is always having something to do with your teammates whether it’s tennis related or not,” senior, and team caption, Ava Griggs said.

Teammates also spoke about the discipline of the sport and how it has taught them self control, on and off the court.

“Playing tennis has helped me both physically and mentally. The mental aspect of tennis has made me more patient with those around me, inside and outside of tennis,” freshman Kate Payn, nicknamed Bread, said.

Time off the court was equally important during the Canada trip. Coach Mathias had hopes of teaching the team to see the sport beyond political differences.

“We are trying to set an example for our students and our communities that we can still be friendly and sportsmanlike in competition with each other despite the current political climate between our two countries,” Mathias said.

The athletes enjoyed the learning aspect, sights and the competition with junior athletes in Canada.

“The best things about traveling to Canada were the new experiences and sights we were able to see. During our trip, we all got to learn the similarities and differences between us and the Canadians when we met their players. Having the opportunity to play a skillful team like theirs was truly amazing. It was a great head start for our upcoming season,” Junior McKenna Sommers said.

Unfortunately, the friendly match was a loss for our USA team but the athletes still enjoyed the experience as a whole.

“I learned that it will be hard to find players as good as the Canadians to play against,” sophomore Bree Baltputnis said.