In August of this school year, I became a member of the school's Gold Team for tennis. This team meets for practice four times a week. I have chosen to focus on my doubles tennis playing skills as opposed to singles tennis. This is because I enjoy playing with a partner as it tests my communication skills. Max Alverson, another 12th grade student, and I became doubles partners, and we work towards strengthening our skills as partners during every practice session.
I was also elected Team Captain this year, which I was very excited about as I have never held a leadership position in a sports team. As the Captain of the team, I am responsible for making sure any information from the Coach reaches all of the players. I also encourage all the players to support each other during practices and during the actual matches, and I try to keep team spirit high even when we are losing a match. Being Captain was and continues to be very interesting for me as it does not always require the same skills as other leadership positions, such as Club President. Despite this, I believe that it is a great opportunity for me to hone skills that I will require for the rest of my life so as to be able to work efficiently with other people.
On the 18th of September, the school's Gold Team had its first match against Rosslyn Academy. We were all very excited about this match as it was our first opportunity in the school year to display our tennis skills and see how much we had improved since practice started. We were also very nervous, as this was an away match, and we were therefore not as comfortable as we would had been had we played at ISK. It was clear to me that the players were nervous from the very start, as none of them were cheering for their fellow players. As Team Captain, I had to try and increase spirits. Although this was difficult at first, I found that as time passed, the players cheered more and more and became more comfortable. I played a doubles match with Max. Both of us were also extremely nervous, and as a result, we made a lot of unforced errors. We ended up losing the match 3-6, but this was a very good experience since it encouraged both of us to work harder in practice and to fix unforced errors. I also continue to work on my service game in practice and my forehand strokes.
On the 20th of September, the Gold Team played a match against the ISK Blue team! This was a very fun match as we were playing against our friends who are on the more advanced team. Max and I were doubles partners again. This game was a much more difficult one for us as compared to the one against Rosslyn Academy. Despite this, both of us still found it much more engaging and interesting because we were pushed to our limits. We also lost 3-6, but we felt much more confident about our playing as compared to the previous match.
On the 25th of September, we played a match against West Nairobi School. Max and I won our doubles match 6-1, but we did not enjoy playing this match at all! Our opponents were at a much lower level of tennis as compared to us, and we were therefore not challenged. It was very difficult to get the players interested in this match as none of them felt that they were being challenged. However, I did manage to get them to cheer, and this encouraged everyone.
The next match that I will be playing is on the 2nd of November against Hillcrest.
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