Stingray Tennis Update: Week of April 27th

Greetings Again!

I am so impressed with this year's tennis team. We have won 5 matches in a row since a season-opening defeat against Gifford's "A" team. That loss was to be expected as they brought their 10 best players, only 2 of which were girls. We did not match up well in that contest. In the 5 contests since, we've won half of our boys matches and all of our girls matches and our overall record is 5 and 1.

This Friday we play Gifford's "B" team. I believe that we can win this match. But, winning isn't everything that matters. Don't get me wrong. I am quite a competitive person by nature and I hate to lose! However, what is more important than winning is having good sportsmanship and I believe our team is, for the most part, comprised of kids who exhibit that trait. Not everyone, but most. Please talk with your child about the importance of good sportsmanship. It's something that they need to be reminded about before every match.

Friday's match will be held at the Vero Beach Tennis Club at Timber Ridge, same place as Monday's match. I am hoping that Gifford brings all of their players on this team of theirs. It has been disappointing to me and to our players that the matches they've played recently have been against teams who haven't had full squads. But even if this is the case going forward, I promise you that they will play tennis on match days, even if it is against teammates!

Also, as most of you know, my mother Margaret has been in the hospital for pretty much the entire month of April with a heart condition and is now in HealthSouth undergoing physical therapy for her legs. She is scheduled for release this weekend. She is temporarily moving in with me when she's released.

We have two matches next week, on Weds and Fri. We have no practices scheduled. I would like to have a practice on Monday or Tuesday, but I may not be able to do this if my mother needs me at home.

I will send an email if I'm able to schedule a practice. If you don't hear back from me, then there is no practice on Monday or Tuesday. After this Friday's match, the next day of tennis will be next Wednesday, against Gifford's A team, in a rematch.

It would be great to stretch our win streak to 7, but let's try to stretch it to 6 first. Hopefully we'll be at full strength for both matches.

Finally, please have a heart to heart with your child about how they can show good sportsmanship on the courts. Character counts more than winning!

Regards,

Coach Mike Daugherty

PS I'm including a picture of our team that was taken last Friday, in Sebastian. Not everyone was present, but we'll take more pictures. Hope that you like them.

SGMS Tennis Team (not all present)

Stingray Tennis Update April 20, 2015

Greetings to All,

Our Stingrays had a great week on the tennis courts last week. We won all three of our matches and had a solid day of practice on Wednesday. This week we have a practice on Wednesday and a match on Friday.

Friday's match is against Sebastian River Middle School, beginning at 4 p.m. Players need to be there as close to 3:30 as possible, no later than 3:45. The match will be held at the Sebastian River High School's tennis courts. You should park in the East Parking Lot between the High School and the Performing Arts Center. The courts are behind the high school, so park in back. Make sure your child brings something to drink, either water or a sports drink such as Gatorade. It would also be a good idea to have an apple or a banana to eat between matches.

As you may have noticed, our team has many more players on our team than our opponents have on their teams. Gifford Middle School had 32 players sign up and it was decided that they would "share" their extra players with Imagine Charter School and the Masters Academy so that those two schools would have enough players to field a team. As it happens, both Oslo Middle School and the team we play this week, Sebastian River Middle School, both have small rosters too, less than 10 players on each team. We have 20 players on our team.

This impacts us on match days. Since our opponents have fewer players on their teams, some of our team's roster have to sit and wait until our opponents have players available for our players to play against. The best solution to this situation is to have our players play "practice matches" against teammates until our opponents have players available to compete against. This is what happened last week. We want our kids to play tennis, not watch tennis, so having our kids play matches against other kids on our own team is better than waiting until 5 p.m. until being able to play against an opponent. Another solution would be for us to have some kids on our team take the day off and I'm OK with that too so long as I'm given sufficient notice, but if your children really want to improve their game, then they need to play tennis and it really doesn't matter so much who they play against in many cases, just so long as they play.

Sebastian High School has 8 courts. We play 7 "official" matches: 5 singles matches and 2 doubles matches. The rest of the matches are considered "practice matches". So, if Sebastian River Middle School does not bring 9 players and it is highly likely that they won't, then I would like our team to play practice matches against each other while the "official matches" are being played on the other courts.

As always, thank you for your support of the tennis program at Storm Grove Middle School.

Respectfully,

Coach Daugherty

Week of April 13th - Important Information

Greetings Again:

The Storm Grove Tennis Team played their first match of the season this past Friday. The Stingrays played their best but were overmatched, losing by an official score of 6-1. The lone victory came by 6th Grader Mary Bennett, who defeated Gifford's #2 Girls Singles player 6-4.

The team's next match is Monday April 13, as they face South Vero Imagine School at 3:30 p.m. at the Vero Beach Tennis Club in Timber Ridge.

To get there, heading south on US1, turn right on Oslo Road (there is a light at that intersection with a Publix on the left and a Walgreen's on the right. Cross Old Dixie and the railroad tracks and head west about a half mile. Turn right into Timber Ridge. There is a church at the entrance. Continue along that drive about 1/4 of a mile and the tennis club will be on your right with ample places to park. Make sure your child has lots to drink and a snack.

Our team has another match on Thursday, also at the Vero Beach Tennis Club. Same time. This match is against The Master's Academy.

On Friday, our team has its third and last match of the week, against Oslo Middle School at Hidden Palms Tennis Club. To get there from SR 60, head south on 43rd Avenue, past 4th St where there will be a traffic light, continue south until you get to 5th St. SW. Turn left, make your first right, then a quick right, and follow that road to the end. You will find yourself at Hidden Palms.

A couple notes about this past Friday's match against Gifford.

First of all, thank you for your great support! It was great to have so many parents at the match! Secondly, we did not match up well against Gifford. I was hoping that we'd be more evenly matched but that was not the case. This week, we should see some more even matchups.

Finally, I want to tell you how much I enjoy working with this team! All of the kids have great attitudes and that is huge!

Thank you for your continued support.

Coach Daugherty

No Practice on Tuesday, April 7th

Due to an illness in my family, I will not be at Storm Grove Middle School on Tuesday. Some of the team was planning on coming to the "voluntary" practice, but it has been cancelled. I will send out an email notifying parents of the cancellation and have it announced at school as well.

I should be back at school for practice on Wednesday. If not, I will let you know as far in advance as possible.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Coach Daugherty

First Week Practices and a Match on Friday!

Important Update

I hope you've enjoyed your vacation as I have enjoyed mine. Tomorrow is the first day of tennis for the 2015 SGMS tennis team. 

There are 20 students on our team: 4 in 6th Grade, 7 in 7th Grade, and 9 in 8th Grade. There are 10 Girls and 10 Boys.  8 might be considered beginners, 5 could be considered novice (have played a little recreational tennis but never competed), 4 are Intermediate level (have competed but not at a high level), and 3 are advanced (take lessons and compete at a higher level).

We have practice scheduled on Monday and Wednesday of this week. In addition, I will also have voluntary practices after school on Tuesday (for 8th Grade) and Thursday (for 6th and 7th Grade). This is so I can work with smaller groups and supervise challenge matches. Students will have to arrange transportation home on these days, just like any other practice days. If they cannot make it on Tuesday or Thursday, that's quite alright. I understand. 

Our first match is this Friday, April 10th, at 3:30 at the Boulevard, against Gifford Middle School. Having additional practices will give me a better idea on where students rank on the team according to their ability level. Gifford Middle School is the best team that we will face all year. They are also quite diverse in their ability levels, like us, so we should not have much problem matching up with them.

I am hopeful to have the team shirts late Monday and I will distribute them as soon as possible. We should have them in plenty of time for our first match.

Please email me to let me know if your child will be there for voluntary practice on either Tuesday or Thursday. Unless you have notified me in advance of a conflict in your schedule, I will expect all team members at practice on Monday and Wednesday.  

Thank you for your support of the tennis program at Storm Grove Middle!

Respectfully,

Coach Mike Daugherty