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I'm for sure not going back -- I resigned already -- but I forgot to sew that thing up.
Girls finished 3rd in the state (there are only 16 teams statewide, 4 get a trophy) and were 7 points off second. A flu-bug not COVID swept through the team the last two weeks of the season, the fact we managed to escape Regionals without any sickness forfeits was impressive, so getting to the State tournament I knew we'd be a MASH unit and we were. The fact that the first day was also the absolutely worst weather of the year -- around 40 degrees, rainy, windy and cold -- did not help our situation at all.
Both my seeded girls doubles teams (1 & 2) lost in the first round. There's a back-bracket at state where you can work your way to play for 3rd, but neither contended and that's where our missing points were for making it to 2nd place.
3rd doubles lost in the 3rd place match. On the bright side, our top singles girl avenged an earlier loss to a tough pusher from up North and made the state final for the first time in her career. (She was a state champ in 1st doubles her freshman year, and 3rd place last year after losing in the semis) and she lost to a nemesis who just has a more complete game, still getting there was really the triumph.
2nd singles had been dominant all year - I think she gave up like 9 games the whole year - and she went to state and got stung by a bee in the state final lol. She felt fine, wasn't allergic and I think won 6-3, 6-1 or something like that to win her first-ever state title (as a freshman) and gave me my first-ever individual state champion, which was a pretty cool distinction given I'm never going back there to coach again.
Boys finished 7th for the 2nd straight year, but this time, we had three entries playing on the last day, the 2nd and 3rd doubles teams, as well as 2nd singles -- who I swapped players out of on the last day of the regular season -- both made the 3rd place matches for their respective positions. All of them lost and finished 4th but the fact that we had an outside chance of placing on the boys side had we finished the job was completely crazy given that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
In the end, I learned a lot and I think if I were ever to take over a new program in another state someday after one more season in Oregon this spring, I would know how to approach the gig now in a way that I wouldn't have before. I also know what questions to ask an AD before accepting a tennis gig in ways that I didn't before this and my first program, because the incessant parent meddling was a new phenomenon to me generally and given the stakes -- I could have left at any point and it wouldn't have mattered to my life much at all -- it was for sure not worth it.
I got some good tactical knowledge out of the experience too; dealing with lower-level players that by the nature of the location end up being consider "among the best" was super jarring at first. I have doubles players here who probably would win a state championship in singles out there, without much of an issue. The highest UTR boy in the state is maybe a 7, the girls state champion is a 5.
That said, I'm glad it's over. The state is absurdly too big for all the travel and it really tested me, the entire experience did. I'm proud of how it turned out, but also glad they're going to find someone local.
Next post will be about the team you've actually been following this whole time, but I suppose the best part of this story being a dynasty is like my summer was me doing a one-time save in FM in some random part of the world.
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