Since the tennis season has come to a close, lone senior Anna Headrick can reflect on her three-year high school tennis career. Headrick transitioned from playing soccer to tennis after her freshman year at Rolla High School. She found the change in sport easy and exciting, with a very welcoming community and a necessary change in mindset.

“Well, so, my freshman year I was playing soccer.” says Headrick, “And I just joined [tennis] for fun, because somebody introduced it to me and so I just started playing.” 

Tennis offered a new pace of play and mentality compared to other sports Headrick had played.

“Honestly, [tennis] is not very intense… It’s pretty laid back and fun.” Headrick explains,“It’s not really physically hard. It’s just sometimes when you’re starting to lose and you’re down like four or five [points] really gets in your head and it’s really upsetting because sometimes you know you’re better. It’s just with tennis you can have off days.”

Consistency and understanding the game makes or breaks a good tennis experience. Tennis is a more difficult sport than it may seem. It is not a team sport in the same way that football or soccer is, for example. In a doubles match a player has a teammate to cooperate with, but a singles match is fully dependent on the one player’s skills and reflexes against their opponent. The real team relationship blossoms off of the court. 

The girls’ tennis team has a supportive group of the parents, especially at the few home matches. The families of the players watch from the sidelines; they’re quiet, but just as focused as the players on the court.

“The amount of parents that support our team is insane. Like literally every match. We’d have parents bringing food and they’re just always so supportive. And they did all the decorations for senior night and it was just cool.” 

Another aspect of the girls’ tennis team’s community is their senior wills. The wills are a special tradition that the team has passed down for many years.

“So every year we write on these tennis balls and we hand down things that are handed down every year. Seniors get to write on [the balls] and then give them to everyone,” says Headrick. For instance, Headrick willed music to sophomore Sailor Garrison because she was, “such a jokester” and “she always had this funny music that she would play,” according to Headrick.

When Headrick was asked if she recommends people to join tennis she answered, “Yes. 100 percent.”