The MWYF Excellence Tennis Team is open to students who maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 and try out for the team. Although it may seem simple to join the team, participating is another story. Students must attend weekly practices, keep a notebook or journal for instructions and analysis of their matches and performance, perform a minimum of 10 service hours and participate in the annual Arthur Ashe Essay Contest. They also commit to improving life skills to be a successful person, player and world class citizen. Although there are many requirements to participate they are not without benefits for our students. Students are provided equipment like their own racquet and Excellence Dri-Fit shirt. They even earn the privilege of traveling for matches, like the BB&T Atlanta Open, Georgia/Florida Challenge and College Tennis Matches. Participating on the team looks phenomenal on college applications as well. “ Recently I was playing a doubles match and the odds weren’t looking good. But, by the end of the game, we were able to tie the score and went into a tiebreak. Even though we didn’t win the match, I felt a sense of accomplishment,” said Kendall, a member of the 2020 team.
Our coaches teach players to not only focus on wins and losses, but on the process of growth and learning. We prepare our team not only academically, but physically as well. Before matches, they have closed practices with instruction, open point play, practice match play scenarios and then match play. At MWYF, we have four excellence teams, 10U, 12U, 14U & 18U and each team competes in the USTA Florida Junior Team Tennis season. Last year, the 10U and 18U team finish 2nd place in their division and our current senior, Mauricia , won five tournaments in the past year. Most of the Excellence team had the opportunity to participate in the NetGeneration on court demo at College Match Day and had the opportunity to walk the collegiate players on the court as well. Coaching these students has created some wonderful moments for our staff. According to Coach Marc, one of the most exceptional experiences he had with the team was when they participated in the Net Generation Demo on stadium court at the BB&T Atlanta Open.
We feel that having a tennis program is important because studies have shown students who participate in sports are less likely to participate in criminal activity. One of the best parts of our team is watching the growth of the students through academics and on the court. Our coaches push them to be great individuals first, because it is important to be great on and off the court. Our Excellence Tennis Team is a wonderful reminder of our foundation’s modest beginning and they continue to be an exceptional example of our mission statement.
