Girls’ Tennis Teams Embrace the Call to Serve
Throughout preseason training and the fall tennis season, our varsity and JV teams focused on the importance of serving—both on and off the court.
Naturally, the coaches put the girls through the fundamentals of grip, contact, and follow through necessary to produce accurate, powerful shots and serves. But, just as importantly, the adults and students emphasized the metaphysical theme they had chosen for the season: Called to Serve.
From the very start of preseason training—or “sports camp” as it’s commonly known—“we discussed how the students can serve one another on the courts; what serves us well vs. what doesn't; how we, the coaches, could serve them; and how we can serve others off the courts,” explains JV Head Coach Connie Sablan (US’89, C’95). Having had a previous connection with Together We Rise, a nonprofit that supports children in foster care, Sablan proposed putting the team’s theme into action by “serving” this cause.
The coaches and teams agreed enthusiastically, especially since Together We Rise was started by young adults wanting to make a difference—just as our players did.
The organization provided Principia’s teams with an online fundraising page link that the girls shared through their own social media accounts, through Principia’s internal employee message board, on posters and flyers, and via email. One rainy day, the JV team congregated with their laptops in Sablan’s living room for a social media blitz that brought in $500. Another successful fundraiser was a “jersey day” at the Upper School—where students who wanted to wear non-reg attire contributed $2 for the privilege, adding $300 to the total.
The team’s goal was to raise $1,500, to purchase 50 “sweet cases”—spacious duffel bags containing coloring books, crayons, hygiene kits, teddy bears, and blankets—that children can use to carry their belongings when they move between care locations. (Often foster children have no choice but to tote their clothes and other belongings in trash bags.)
“The fundraiser really made me aware of how little foster children have growing up, and I was so grateful that our team was able to take practical footsteps in order to help,” says senior Hannah Geis. “The more we were able to get the word out, the more we were able to donate to the children.”
By the end of the tennis season in early October, the girls had raised $1,680, which enabled them to put together 60 sweet cases. In addition, senior Tegan Dry coordinated a lunch and discussion with alum Ian Anand Forber-Pratt (US’98, C’08)—who established India’s first formal foster care program several years ago and is currently involved in foster care work in St. Louis.
The varsity-JV partnership wasn’t just confined to the service project. In fact, Sablan and varsity head coach Lauri Thompson McNabb (US’83, C’87) have operated for the past two seasons as one School tennis program. While the teams’ matches are separate, of course, the coaches seek to unite all the players through the metaphysical theme, the celebration of each other’s successes, joint weight training and conditioning, and gatherings for church and other activities. As Sablan puts it, “We work in concert to make certain we’re providing the best program for our Principia players.”
As you might expect, that unity of spirit resulted in successes on the court. For example, one JV player placed third in a Metro League tournament, and the varsity team competed well at Districts. You could say that Upper School girls’ tennis aced it both on and off the court this year!