Tennis Mentoring Program

By Dalyn Nguyen ('26), Student Contributor

Here at St. Agnes, we offer a growing list of sports each season for our SAA stars to choose from. We offer many teams at different levels-making sure each athlete can grow in her sport. Usually, the Upper School and Lower School teams don’t have a lot of time to spend together, but this year our tennis team has gone above and beyond to make it a priority.

For SAA grades 5-8 tennis is a fall sport, while the Upper School team’s season is in the spring. The tennis coach, Coach Louis, saw this as an opportunity to create a Little Sis/Big Sis Program, where the Upper School athletes would help the younger athletes with their training. On the first day of practice, Coach Louis told the teams, “You’re going to work with each other and learn from each other. We are going to keep improving on this program every season.”

Every Monday and Wednesday, the Varsity team has come from 4:00 to 5:00 and helped with conditioning, training, and lessons to help improve the younger players’ games. The workouts included skill aspects such as rally play, muscle training, & practicing formation. One member of the 5th-8th grade team said, “This really helped me improve my tennis skills. I get to make friends with the high schoolers, which also made tennis practice more fun.”

From 5:00-6:00, the Upper School athletes stayed for their own team practice. Since the Upper School team doesn’t start their official season until the spring, this program also gave the older players time to improve their skills and prepare for the season. Their practices consisted of many of the same focused drills as the 5th-8th grade team, but in a more rigorous form.

By helping the Middle School athletes, the Upper School girls got to connect with them on a deeper level and make new friendships. It also made them use their knowledge of the sport to increase their own capabilities. Both teams learned valuable skills that can be used for starting or continuing a high school tennis career-and possibly beyond.

SAA-SDS Athletic Director Matt Nelson shared, “Creating a “oneness” within the program helps all the girls feel invested in and excited about the future of tennis at SAA. Many of our teams are trying to foster this same unity, and the Tennis Team Little Sis/Big Sis program has been a great example of how this can work. Coach Louis is fostering that unity with his mentoring program-they really feel like one team.”

The Middle School season just ended, and the Upper School athletes are actively preparing for their season. Go STARS!