After a 16 year hiatus, math teacher John Houston grabbed his racquet and returned as head coach of the girls’ tennis team.

“I stopped coaching when [my son] was born,” Houston said. “Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Luciano asked me to come back because there was an opening. The team’s effort is their strong suit. I hope to recruit more players for next year.”

Last year’s team was dominated by seniors, and after their graduation, only four players remained. Senior Angela Anacleto was one of these athletes. As the only senior on the team with previous tennis experience, she worked to teach the other girls the fundamentals of tennis.

“I needed to help the team to learn how to serve, and how the point system works. Without those understandings down, they couldn’t play,” Anacleto said. “[This season] I wanted to make everyone included.”

After so many seniors left the team, the remaining members had a chance to build stronger friendships between themselves and their five new teammates, especially the freshmen. Making the freshmen feel welcome was easier for the girls, as they were all going through the same ordeal: a change of coach.

“This year there are a lot of freshman and we are a lot closer – we did a lot more team building,” junior Yubin Kim said. “There more trust in our team members too, and I feel I learned more. [Mr. Houston] taught us techniques and basics, and we did drills.”

With big plans for next season, and another year under his belt, Houston and the girls’ tennis team are working towards improving technique and working better as a team.