Reigning North Suburban Conference champions begin preseason captain’s practices at Lifetime Fitness

After suffering an injury when he dislocated his foot playing basketball, junior Jose Leon feared for his ability to participate in athletic activities come tennis season in the springtime.

However, his slow comeback has also gradually allowed him to participate in key preseason activities that help him begin to get used to playing tennis again, alongside his teammates.
The boy’s tennis team began their annual captain’s practices at Lifetime Fitness in St. Louis Park on Jan. 17, and they run all the way up until spring break, when the team starts their regular season, every Thursday night at 8 p.m.
Leon said he was happy to be able to begin participating again and he is grateful for the opportunity of captain’s practice to improve his chances for tryouts.
“Since it’s (the injury) is my foot, I was worried that it would impact my ability to move side to side on the court,” Leon said. “But I feel captain’s practice could give me a fighting chance to make varsity this year.”
Sophomore Aaron Goodman said he really felt captain’s practices are essential to the team’s early performance on the court when facing conference opponents.
“Because not everyone on the team plays tennis year-round, it’s very important to get ready for early in the season,” Goodman said. “We hope to go undefeated in conference and above all beat Benilde St.-Margarets, so being fit to start the season is crucial.”
Leon also said that the captain’s practices serve as a great testing grounds to see where every player’s talent level is at.
“The returning players get very excited going into captain’s practice, as we really anticipate finding out which new players the team will see and what kind of talent they can bring to the table,” Leon said.
However, Goodman said preseason training is not necessarily the only activity that can be of great benefit to the team before they play a single match. He said fundraising events can be very important, especially when multiple aspects of tennis gear start increasing the cost, such as rackets, balls, shoes, and especially uniforms.
“Fundraising is truly one of the more important things for the team, as it will help us get new uniforms and apparel, both of which can be very expensive when you’re paying for an entire team,” Goodman said.
Registration for the tennis team will open next week, but for those looking for a fair amount of warm-up before the season, captain’s practices will continue into spring break before the first match of the season on April 8 against St. Francis.