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English teacher steps in as boys tennis coach, team looks to do well

The boys tennis team is in for a big change this season, as new tennis coach Jim Gardenhire steps in.

Todd Nagel, athletic director and previous boys tennis coach, was the coach since 2003 and resigned this year due to time constraints he faced from taking the job as athletic director. An interview process took place for the position, and Gardenhire gained the spot.

According to Nagel, he will miss the laid back approach of tennis, as coaching both football and basketball were so intense and tennis served as a good changeup for him. However, he believes that Gardenhire will do a great job as the new coach.

“Mr. Gardenhire will do a fine job as coach. In fact, I would expect him to immediately contend for a conference title,” Nagel said. “I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t. He is good with kids and will get them to play hard.”

Gardenhire is confident that he will have great success as the new boys tennis coach, as he enjoys to play tennis and has had experience coaching other sports before

“I first started playing recreational tennis in college just for fun,” Gardenhire said. “I look forward to tennis being fun. Tennis is just a fun sport, and it is pretty relaxed.”

One obstacle Gardenhire did note was that he had not played tennis for about ten years due to a shoulder injury.

“It will be an obstacle to get back into tennis after physically being unable to do so,” Gardenhire said.

Nevertheless, Gardenhire expresses his excitement in coaching boys tennis this year.

Another asset Gardenhire possesses that will strengthen his potential as a new tennis coach is his experience as a wrestling coach.

According to Gardenhire, going from wrestling to tennis is definitely a change of pace, as wrestling is super competitive, whereas tennis is a combination of both competition and recreation. However, he does feel well prepared for coaching tennis this year, as tennis and wrestling both have one thing in common: individuality.

“Just coming out of wrestling, which is an individual sport, I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to develop individual skills and keep a team together,” Gardenhire said.

Ryan Olsen, junior and returning tennis player, does not think that there will be much of a shift in having a new coach, as he believes that both are honorable coaches.

“I’m excited for Gardenhire to be our coach this season. I think that the team will do good this year,” Olsen said.

The boys looks to do well this year, individually and as a team, along with their new coach.

“There is a lot of good talent on the team and I’m excited to play with them,” Olsen said. “I also look forward to improving personally and as a team this year with Gardenhire.”

So far, Gardenhire has held a tennis meeting and notes that it has been positive and that he has been receiving good feedback. He is also casually recruiting other potential players in the hallways.

“We have a couple of good individuals, but I haven’t seen anyone else yet. I’m excited for the athletes I know of and have been around,” Gardenhire said.

 

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