Coaching Is Just Learning From A Different Perspective 

Marilyn Keating, staff writer

Mr. Willemsen, head coach of the Girls Varsity Tennis team, attributes the team’s success this season to the members of the team themselves.

Mr. Willemsen started coaching in 2016 and this is his fourth season. So far, the 2019 season has been going well. The team won Sections, despite a rough start (2-10) and a difficult schedule. Currently, the team’s record is 7-10, and Mr. Willemsen credits this comeback to the girls’ perseverance and unwillingness to give in to the pressure and get down on themselves.

“Tennis is an individual sport, but this group’s really been able to come together, with a positive attitude and in support of one another” which has played a significant role in the team’s overall success, he says.

New Providence High School is in the Union County Conference, in the Watchung Division. Being in this top division “made all the difference” as the girls had better competition, according to Mr. Willemsen.

The team consists mainly of Sophomores and Juniors, with two Freshmen, one Freshmen alternate, and one Senior on the varsity squad. The girls really “started to come together when Hanna Giedraitis [Senior] was put into doubles.”  Overall, that lack of Senior leadership and maturity resulted in the team, as a whole, taking the leadership responsibility this season, says Mr. Willemsen.

He thinks that the Freshmen have also impacted team morale in the sense that they’re very positive and bring “an enthusiasm, almost like a silliness, but not in a counterproductive way.” 

The team’s main goal this season has been to focus on the State Tournament. At the beginning of New Providence’s season, the girls faced tough opponents such as Westfield, Kent Place, Summit, and Oak Knoll. Due to this difficult competition, the team was reminded“don’t get discouraged” because once States came around, the girls would have a lot more success in their matches against smaller schools more similar to  New Providence.

This season has been stressful, up until one to two weeks ago when the team was winning every match in the section, which the girls eventually went on to win. Sections reinstated the idea that “when you win all is forgiven” and the pressure and distractions started to disappear and confidence started to grow.

Mr. Willemsen thinks “the team had to learn to deal with adversity from the beginning” so the girls headed into Sections ready to compete, and come out victorious. The valuable win of Sections has only increased the team’s excited preparation for the State Tournament, as the girls can “focus on the present.” 

Mr. Willemsen says that the girls on this team “do all the work and deserve all the credit.” This season hasn’t been easy, but the girls’ persistence and hard work led them to their successes. Mr. Willemsen coaches by that exact idea, that you have to try and let the girls come into their own and learn as they grow. Tennis is an individual sport, and so the girls have to be independent out on the court. Therefore, it’s been an important aspect to Mr. Willemsen’s coaching to let the girls learn for themselves. Coaching has left its mark and continues to have Mr. Willemsen “learning all the time, making mistakes, accepting and acknowledging those mistakes, and then just moving on.”