We are just about exactly 5 months out from when this pandemic took control of all of our lives around the world. In the sports world, specifically the college sports world, we sit roughly at the same spot as we did in late March. No (now little) college sports. The NBA has shown us promising results by being in the Orlando bubble and having a lot of success as the playoffs are about to begin. The MLB has been quite the opposite and is showing us that traveling comes with consequences. In just a few weeks, the US Open is expected to start. This will be a great opportunity for our sport to show (or not show) how well things can work and proceed with more play. Enough rambling on, this article is to discuss Iowa High School Tennis and the pros and cons of having the season in the spring vs having the season in the fall. I am not writing this to take a firm stance on which part of the year the tennis seasons should be played, but rather to open up a discussion on some of the good and bad for the spring and fall. For as long as I can remember, the Iowa High School tennis seasons have been played in the spring. Maybe this was different some time ago, but that would be before my time so feel free to correct and inform me as needed. To start, I have compared Iowa with our fellow Midwestern states to see when tennis seasons take place. See below:
Fall: Girls - Spring: Boys Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas & South Dakota Fall: Boys - Spring: Girls Nebraska & Missouri Iowa likes to be different that its fellow counterparts by not just being the only state that has 1 high school athletics association, but one of the only states where Boys and Girls tennis both takes place in the spring season. As we can see, many of the surrounding states have Girls tennis in the fall and Boys tennis in the spring, with Nebraska and Missouri being the opposite. I will be sharing my personal thoughts at the end and instead, we will be hearing from some coaches and players around the state and their thoughts on the matter. Travis Carpenter - Head Boys Coach, Davenport Central I think moving boys tennis to the fall would eliminate a lot of conflicts with other sports. There have been many talented tennis players at Central who are also excellent runners or soccer players, and elect to skip tennis in favor of those other sports. In contrast, I’ve only ever had two varsity players who were a part of our football team, and only a handful of players run XC. I also think it would be tremendously helpful when considering the weather. It would be much colder for postseason play and might have to be played indoors, but that’s common in the spring anyway with rainy weather. I think we do a real disservice to our athletes when we have to spend so many of our first practices indoors in the spring because of cold weather, rain, and, occasionally, snow on the courts. Soccer and track can practice in the rain, but tennis can’t, and practicing in the gym is a sorry comparison to practicing on the courts. Having said that, I also coach volleyball, and I would hate to give that up if tennis were moved to the spring. Nonetheless, I’d be all in on moving boys to the fall. Mike Conlon - Head Girls Coach - West Des Moines Valley Benefits to fall tennis....1. Typically much warmer, and more consistent weather. 2. Higher level of play with (tournament) players coming off the summer tournament schedule, and non-tournament players simply playing 3-4 months of summer tennis and camps, etc. 3. Opportunity for 1 coach to lead the boys and girls programs (if seasons are split). 4. Moving away from graduation or end of the year activities provides more focus for players. 5. 11-12 week typical season could be set up to accommodate a full outdoor format or could be moved to coincide with school schedule. Later start would likely require availability of indoor courts for state tournaments (not ideal). Earlier start dates could conflict with August USTA tournaments. Working w/USTA would be important. 6. Fall tennis would conflict with Volleyball, but at some point I think we should research what the real affect of VB is on girls tennis. And as important, place tennis in the season that most benefits tennis players. Nick DeMoss - Head Girls Coach - Knoxville I’m afraid tennis in the fall would end our program. As a small school, most of our tennis players have never played the game before their 9th grade year. However, they have been playing volleyball since 5th grade for club, and 7th grade for school. For this reason, volleyball is king with our better athletes who end up being our top tennis players. Volleyball and tennis are very similar sports in the fact you are reacting to a ball going over a net and the serves are somewhat similar in fact you throw a ball up to hit it over. If these athletes had to choose as a freshman between a sport they have played for years, or one they only try (and end up loving) to stay active in the spring, we would not have a program. A second down fall is weather. Currently we start our season in mid-March when it is a little colder (45*) and rainy and finish mid May or early June when it is warmer (80*) and typically less rainy. Starting in the fall would start in mid August (100*) and finish mid October when it is typically much colder and rainy (55*) with State being at the beginning of November and almost certainly needing to be indoors and chances for more injuries late in the season due to cold. A third downfall is a lot of tennis coaches at the smaller schools are also volleyball coaches (myself). I also know tennis coaches that coach football (Albia for one). If tennis is changed to fall you are making the coaches pick between two jobs which is taking away salary from them. I would like to see total participation in volleyball and tennis/golf and then ask those players if having to choose, which sport they would pick before I could go for it. Morgan Seashore - Waukee, Senior To me, there isn’t much of a difference having tennis season for both boys and girls in the fall versus the spring. In the spring, the biggest issue is having outdoor practice during the early season due to the high amount of rainfall in Iowa. Thankfully, my team would have a shortened practice indoors at oneof the local clubs, but I understand not all schools have the ability to reserve indoor courts due to location and/or funding. But the weather during post season in the spring generally is ideal, with warm weather and relatively low winds. If we were to move the season to the fall, early season would have the better weather. But post season would probably occur around October, which is generally windy and cold, and could then be a problem for the state tournament. In my opinion, because we live in Iowa and the weather is so varied, I don’t see a clear advantage in having a fall or spring season for both boys and girls teams. Personally, what I would love to see is the girls’ and boys’ seasons to not occur at the same time. I know last year there were rumors of the girls’ seasons to be moved to the fall and I feel like that would be very beneficial. This would allow teams to have more access to court space. For example, Waukee currently only has six courts, and with our high participation rates, it is impossible for our girls and guys to practice at the same time. So the girls practices are only about an hour and twenty minutes a day, which simply is not a lot. The guys have to wait and return to school later to have their practices which is also a huge inconvenience to them. If we were to have the seasons at different times, this would help a lot of teams to have sufficient court space and time. It would also greatly help with coaching shortages. I know many teams share a coach for both teams, which I assume is a lot for those coaches to handle. This results in meets having to be double headers, which takes a lot more time out of students’ already very busy schedules. Coaches also can not pay adequate attention to both teams, which isn’t fair to the athletes and coaches. Waukee also has trouble recruiting enough coaches for the girl’s teams, but if the seasons were opposite some of the boys coaches could also assist with us. The only issue with having the girls season in the fall would be losing the girls who also play volleyball. I know we have many players who mainly play volleyball but also play tennis as a “side sport”. If they have to choose a sport, many teams could lose valuable players. But they could also gain the girls who play golf, as I know players who have to choose in the spring between girls tennis and golf. The boys don’t have this issue because boys golf offers a fall season. Paige Bily - Indianola, Senior I really like tennis is in the spring because being a volleyball player I can still play both sports and not have to choose one or the other. I dislike having spring tennis because the weather is always hit or miss at the beginning of the season. It makes it difficult to plan because we never know when it will be raining or sunny! Having it in the fall would make a more consistent season weather wise, the season could also be stretched to make it longer as well. In comparison the spring season feels a lot shorter. Natalie Buelow - Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Junior I have only been able to play one year of varsity tennis (as a freshman) as my sophomore year was cancelled because of the ongoing pandemic. I played my one season during the spring and I would like to continue playing during the spring. Both seasons can be affected by the winter weather but I believe it is smarter to be stopped by it before the season even starts. With a fall season, winter may impose a problem late in the season. Not every school and team has the ability or resources to get indoor courts. With a spring season, there is always an option to push back and reschedule meets/tournaments into the summer. A spring season would allow for it to be almost completely played outside, unless any unexpected weather came. There is a difference between playing indoors and outdoors; a completely different style of game for some players. The fall season would possibly start outdoors and eventually have to switch to indoors. Additionally, the fall season would cause problems with the other sports played at the time such as football or volleyball, making students who usually play both have to choose which one to commit to. Ayva Bohr - Cedar Rapids Prairie, Senior I was devastated to lose my junior year of tennis, and by the looks of it now, a full fall season of a sport does not look very good at the moment. Still keeping in mind all spring sports already lost a whole season, and Covid-19 still not looking the greatest, why would we try to put the spring season in danger again? This is assuming it will (hopefully) be better by spring... Why wouldn’t we give the spring sports a better shot? Also considering having a twin brother in football, it makes me sad seeing my sport being put on the back burner for another, when seasons should be given an equal chance. Where do I sit on this? I want to have some more information on some things before I take a hard stance with my own thoughts. 1. More research specifically with girls tennis and volleyball and how participation numbers may or may not be impacted if girls tennis was moved to the spring 2. How many tennis coaches also coach another sport? What are those other sports? I will express my stance as it stands right now. I honestly find it exciting to have both Boys and Girls play in the spring. I do find that to be a fun and unique perspective Iowa offers. Would I keep it this way? I think having the Boys play in the fall could be enticing. In regards to court space, coaching availability, and competition with other sports, it could be something that works well. I think Boys tennis generally gets more impacted by spring/summer sports of soccer and baseball, and like many have mentioned the Girls get hit more by volleyball.
Where do you stand? I always welcome the discussion regarding this or any other topic! Message me anytime!
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