On a mid-autumn day, tennis balls ricochet off of racquets and are seen flying through the air in an exciting fashion. Sweat drips from the determined contenders as they skillfully display an arsenal of backhand, forehand and other types of strokes. These are the actions of the newly-founded CAHS girls’ tennis team, and they are making their very first  impressions out on the court.

Part of Classical’s girls’ sport teams, this group of ladies participated in their first match against Escondido Charter on Tuesday, Oct. 6, which they triumphantly won with a final score of 13-5.  However, whether during victory or defeat, the spirits of the team remain strong. “I love these girls so much,” senior Gizelle George remarked after their victory. “We’ve become really good friends, and I love hanging out with them everyday.”

This is the very first year that the girls’ tennis team has played, and was finally approved by the school after more than a year of deliberation. Sophomore Makenna Roehr first conceived the idea of an all girls’ tennis team for Classical during her 8th grade year. “Because I was in middle school I didn’t have enough support from the high school,” Roehr said. “I didn’t have enough girls to actually get it going.” However as more people began to consider the idea of joining a Classical-based tennis team, the sport began to gain more support. Since then it has been introduced into the fall roster of this year’s sport list. Upon seeing this, Roehr immediately took ahold of the opportunity and signed up for the team. “I’ve been playing [tennis] as long as I can remember…it’s so much fun to play other people and to watch myself grow.”

Coach Victor Johnson was more than willing to volunteer as head coach for the team, even with the difficulties of prep work that were ever-present during its formation. “I think that the initial conceiving of the team was more work than I originally thought it would be,” Johnson explained. Seemingly small details such as ordering uniforms and making sure that there were enough girls to start the team were all difficulties faced during the sport’s conception.

Nevertheless, after all the hard work and effort that was put into its preparation, the girls’ tennis team has become a thriving sports entity that serves as a fresh, new face for the fall roster.

Senior Maggie Seidel is already chuckling at the early memories being made during practice. “Mr. Johnson makes jokes about us and makes fun of our playing, and then we all try and hit him with the ball. That’s fun!” In the end, the friendships and camaraderie of the players are the aspects that are remembered the most. Whether it be the jokes about faces made when serving the ball or enjoying the delicious chocolate chip cookies at the end of the match, all of these moments tap right into the emotional fiber of the players’ souls. Instances that carry sentimental value go on to matter much more than points scored in a game.

Editor’s Note: the sentence “…Gizelle George remarked after their loss” has been correctly changed to “…remarked after their victory.” “Camradery” was correctly changed to “camaraderie.”