What is High School Tennis at York High School?

High school tennis in Maine is a very quick season. We start the last day of March and the regular season is over by the end of May. Of course the tournament could extend the season well into June. (See linked practice and match schedule.

For a varsity match, seven players are required. There are five (5) matches that make up the team match. We play three (3) singles matches and two (2) doubles matches. The first team to three (3) points wins the team match. Each singles and doubles match are two out of three sets.

The Western Maine Conference has made an effort to get more players involved in matches, so the coaches have created JV matches. These matches are played after the varsity matches end. Each team tries to bring five (5) extra players for JV matches and coaches will decide whether singles and/or doubles matches will be played. Usually the JV matches are 8-game pro-sets.

Therefore, what I am looking for are the top 12 players to make up the varsity and junior varsity squads. It is expected that these 12 players will make a total committment for the entire season to be at every scheduled event.

A team ladder is a requirement for us to compete in matches. The team ladder is set up from 1-12 with the best player being number one. The ladder is set up according to challenge matches set up with the coach. We have quite a challenge this year as only 13 practices before our first team match on April 17th. Therefore I will be looking to get a ladder established as soon as possible. As a coach, I must keep proof of challenge matches for ladder spots with me when we play matches. It is the right of opposing coaches to review a team's challenge matches. Therefore we must stick to a strick set of rules for establishing the ladder.

I would like to keep as many players active in the sport of tennis as possible. For the players below number 12 (from 13 on down the ladder), there is what I call the "A-Team". This is a squad of players that will practice with the team on selected dates, and will be encouraged to play matches against each other when the varsity and jv squads are traveling. There is a built-in possibility for A-Team members to move up onto the jv squad and get some match experience.

Many of our matches are long journies. We travel to Lake Region, Freeport, Falmouth, Greely, St. Dom's (Auburn), and North Yarmouth Academy. Our average return time is around 7:00 p.m. This makes for a long day. We usually stop for food along the way. Please be aware of this and plan accordingly. Of course proper behavior on the bus is expected and I expect the utmost of class when representing our school, families, and town when we are on the road.

I am looking forward to another great season! Last year we made the playoffs after missing the tourney for many years in a row. We were 6-6 in the regular season and seeded 8th in the tournament. We became competitive once again in the most difficult league in the state. If fact we lost a close 3-2 match against NYA, who went on to win the Class C State Championship. We are going to set our goals higher this year. Let's not be satisfied with just making the tourney, let's get in and make some NOISE!