As the sports team season draws to a close, senior Avi Patel and junior Jake Sclar recount their time on the Cherokee High School’s boys’ tennis team.

    The Cherokee boys’ tennis team divides into two sub-teams: varsity and junior varsity.  The varsity team consists of three singles players and three pairs of doubles players, while the junior varsity consists of all doubles players.  The combined team is led by co-captains Konrad Scroger, Joe Sisti, Andrew Cervantes, Ishan Bhaglat, and Avi Patel, while the team is coached by Mr. Haney, Mr. Glatz, and Ms. Fynan.  

    The boys’ tennis team, as a whole, has a 2017 record of 4 wins to 10 losses.  According to Jake Sclar, many matches were cancelled due to various reasons such as scheduling conflicts, weather conditions, or deficiency in players.  Additionally, the Chiefs had a tough season with many challenging opponents.  The team features many seniors as varsity players, with the exception of a junior, two sophomores, and a freshman. In terms of taking seniorship next year, Sclar would like to lead the team by being “sociable and mak[ing] as many friends as possible…and we’ll practice together.”  This heeds to Avi Patel’s advice of not regretting anything if the team works as a team and never gives up.  However, there are plenty of players on junior varsity to move up, with great potential.  Patel comments by saying he has full confidence of their abilities.  

    Both Patel and Sclar agree that Mr. Haney is a key contributor to the moral of the team. Patel admires and enjoys Mr. Haney’s dedication to the team, and how he sets goals and hopes for the players on the team to measure up to throughout the season. Sclar agrees with Patel’s views, while also mentioning Haney’s professionalism and etiquette on and off the courts.  Sclar also mentions he “loves [Coach] Glatz [because he] keeps us conditioned” while also gives good advice. As for his teammates, Patel exclaims that he loves his partners and that boys’ tennis is a “team that hypes each other up”. Patel thanks his coaches for his success in tennis, his parents who joined him club tennis after realizing his passion when watching TV, and Dave Taylor, who is amazing at whatever he does.  His other activities along with tennis include NHS, track and field, Community Service club, Renaissance club, and Model Congress have helped him get into Rowan, where he will pursue his dream of going to medical school.  Sclar, on the other hand, wants to travel, possibly to Spain, where he could practice his Spanish.  Although he has spent days studying and finishing homework late in the night, Sclar appreciates the “skills [that] comes in different ways [and] various styles” from the players on the team.  Tennis is a mental game, according to Sclar, that people shouldn’t worry too much about what others think.  Sclar further explains “when I go to tennis, it gets me in a good mood.  [I] forget about [the] worries for a couple of hours.”  Likewise, Patel acknowledges tennis for making him physically fitter and teaching him time management.