April 19, 2021 at 12:38 p.m.
Numbers booming as RHS boys' tennis team preps for season
Numbers booming as RHS boys' tennis team preps for season
That's how many athletes are registered for the team this year. Nearly all of them have been taking advantage of the team's voluntary contact days, which started following spring break and concludes this week.
That is going to help a team that is seeking its seventh consecutive Great Northern Conference title, and ninth overall in the last 11 years. There are six varsity players gone from the team the Hodags last put on the court two years ago, but Nichols won't be lacking for options when it comes to filling the void.
"Big team, lot of fun, a lot of energy and a lot of talent," he said. "There's a lot of depth. There's a lot of talent. It's going to be a tough decision."
The numbers boom could be chalked up to a couple of factors. For starters, there were no seniors on the roster last season. Though the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tennis was one of the first sports people could play once lockdown restrictions started to ease last summer.
"Maybe people were looking for something to do, stay active, especially after being cooped up all year," Nichols said. "We have a really big freshman and sophomore class. I'm sure they're experimenting, seeing what sports they like, what they want to be involved in. I'm guessing it's a combination of those two."
The Hodags are making the most of the one-year exception by the WIAA that has afforded it 15 coaching contact days prior to the start of the season, and for good reason. There is exactly one month between the team's first scheduled match May 7 at Stevens Point Pacelli and the start of the WIAA tournament June 7 in a Division 1 subsectional at Wausau West. Schools may schedule up to 14 varsity competitions during that time, and Rhinelander has scheduled the maximum.
However 14 matches in essentially 29 days leaves very little time for practice once the season gets into full swing.
"These three weeks are critical. Our schedule is condensed and it's full. Once we hit the season, we're not going to have many practices," Nichols said. "It's a lot of fundamentals, skills, strategy, all that work right now. I'm just hoping we can stay focused and we make all these big gains now, because later on it's going to be tough with so many matches coming up.
"If we can have good swings, the strategy will come with the gameplay, with those practices in between. If we can get those fundamental strokes, we know the different grips, know the swing speed, the swing path. If we can get all those down, we'll be in a good position for the season."
That's where a facility like the Hodag Dome has become vital. In a rarity for early April, the Rhinelander High School tennis courts were free and clear of snow when contact days began April 6. The team enjoyed its first few practices outside, however a few rainy days over the last couple of weeks has ushered the team back indoors. In the past, that meant making due with a couple of makeshift courts on the hardwood of the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. Now, the team has four regulation tennis courts to practice on inside the dome.
"Talking to other coaches, we're very fortunate with the dome," Nichols said. "We can have full practices. We have four full courts. It's a little congested with a big team, but I think we're doing a really nice job. We have a couple of different stations. They rotate through it and we're getting a lot of good work and a lot of ball touches."
In addition to working on the fundamentals, these three weeks are key as Nichols gets acquainted to his new team in his first year taking over the program in the wake of longtime coach Bob Heideman's retirement last May. Nichols was slated to be Heideman's assistant last year, but was never able to work in-person with the team due to the pandemic.
He has become familiar with some of the players during summer tennis lessons and open gyms this winter inside the dome.
"I know all the juniors and seniors that are coming back," he said. "I've taught some of the freshmen, so I knew them and saw them hit over the winter. We have the lovely dome, which gave them that opportunity to showcase what they have and just get some experience."
As for what the Hodags have coming back, the team returns Great Northern Conference singles player of the year Jacob Weddle, who won the No. 1 singles title in the conference back in 2019. The team also returns juniors Luke Ring and Elijah Evers, who paired to win the No. 2 doubles title as freshman. Senior Billy Berwig, who won a conference title at No. 3 doubles in 2019, is also back.
As for what the rest of the squad will look like, that's where the three weeks of contact come into play. Because the team is working on skills and fundamentals now, much more time can be devoted to intrasquad challenge matches once official practice begins May 3 to determine the remainder of the lineup.
"It kinds of bypasses that first step of practice where you work the fundamentals, because we'll have those down," Nichols said. "We have three weeks of it. Then that first week, with so many guys and such talent, it lends itself to more playoffs and we can dial in a good starting lineup for that first match."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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