By: Kayla Mitchell

Media Production Editor

As the Los Gatos High School Boys’ Tennis Team prepares to kick off its season, the players are looking forward to a successful and dominant year. After a victorious run last spring, the boys’ team is determined to make an even bigger impact in the tennis rankings. With new, motivated players and coaches on the roster, the group is ready to begin working and competing again. The team began hosting weekly practices and meetings in February to regroup and start their preparations for the matches soon to come.

The LGHS Boys’ Tennis Team competes in the El Camino division. Last season, their team’s toughest competitors were Mountain View High School and Cupertino High School, a trend that head Coach Justin Stenger believes will continue in this coming season. The team missed the opportunity to compete in the CCS championship last year after a narrow loss to Palo Alto High School. Stenger said, “That’s our goal this season, to be there in CCS. But I won’t really talk about that throughout the season. It’s more important that we focus on one day, one match, one point.” With his motivated and optimistic goals, Coach Stenger is excited to see the potential of his boys’ team this year.

Coach Stenger hosted tryouts the week of Feb. 10 and was very pleased with the new talent hoping to join the squad. Several important players, who were instrumental in the team’s success last season, are returning to compete with the team again this year. Coach Stenger, who is returning for his second season with the boys’ group, is excited by the number of players interested in the program and the amount of freshman talent hoping to join the varsity and JV teams. With over 50 players attending tryouts, Stenger has shared how difficult it has been for the coaches to sort through the talent and cut the number down to 20 players per team. Jim Blanco, a football coach at LGHS who regularly works with the team’s kicker, is joining the tennis team’s coaching staff. Stenger stated, “Coach Blanco reminds me of myself. He was a football coach who really fell in love with the game of tennis, and just really found that he enjoyed it.” The full coaching staff and new talented roster will support the hard-working boys’ team this season. 

The boys’ team is excited to get back on the court together and to begin preparing for their first matches. Coach Stenger plans to focus on the importance of teamwork this season, and he admires how the boys motivate and challenge each other when competing against one another in weekly practices. Senior captain Micheal Hein will be an important figure on the team this season, guiding the group and helping everyone learn during training. Coach Stenger talked about Hein’s presence, saying, “He is more than just a captain. He has become almost an assistant coach for us. He is very objective, and we really look to him for strategic stuff. I really respect his tennis knowledge.” Hein will be playing the number one singles line for the boys’ team and will be a key figure in helping the team achieve their CCS goals. The boys’ tennis team is ready to be back on the court and is motivated to leave an even larger impact in the rankings than last year.