Well, its a new year and after a summer off of blogging, I wasn't sure if Whitman would have a new mascot yet or not. Going forward the Missionary will no longer be the mascot, and the plan is to have a new one by 2017, so for now, the blog will keep this name and address.
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| Getting some early doubles work in on our new surface in Bratton! |
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| And of course spending most of our days outside! |
It is an absolute pleasure to welcome everyone back from summer. There were many adventures, some great training and tournaments but a lot of variety of work, rest, travel, training and play. What is so great for me to see is that each year I've been at Whitman, our first practice back has more depth, quality of play and the overall fitness just gets better and better.
Our other excitement comes from comings and goings. Jenna came over during orientation to see her teammates, but is now safely landed in Spain for her semester abroad. It is one of the awesome things about D3 that such a dedicated student athlete can still get this experience is incredible. We miss her but are so thrilled for this opportunity she has.
I would like to officially welcome two new members of the team. I'd like to welcome our new assistant Coach Brian Elliot. Brian comes from Eastern Washington, most recently living in Liberty Lake after growing up in Colville and playing #1 at Whitworth. He has coached at clubs in Texas and California and brings a wealth of experience and so much passion for the game and team tennis, we are lucky to have Brian. He's already dove in on court and with video for technical and tactical development.
With Tree and Jenna D. graduating last year (btw congrats on the respective moves to NYC and LA!!!), we have big shoes to fill through development, but helping on the recruiting side is the arrival of first year Andrea Gu. Andrea is from Coquitlam, BC, spent 3 years of high school in Shanghai, China and now comes to Whitman ready to contribute right away. She brings a spirit of engagement and positivity that resonates so well with our team. On court, she is ripping the ball and working hard right away. All of this from our highest ranked recruit ever, a 4 star top 150 in her class on tennisrecruiting.net, Andrea has played nationally in Canada as well as having great success in the USTA PNW section. This year she stayed home a lot playing adult open tournaments in BC which will help her maturity and being ready for anything on the court. I'll also welcome her parents Donna and Gary to the Whitman family, its wonderful to have you and Andrea is fitting in wonderfully right away.
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| Andrea at convocation - ready to start classes |
While the excitement is high with the team, this first two weeks at Whitman have been different than any other I've experienced. Our community is saddened by the loss of classmate and friend Josh Fishman. Our thoughts go to his family, friends and loved ones and there has been a unusual combination of enthusiasm with grief throughout the past week. In these times, as one player put it, we feel gratitude for our health, each other and the opportunities we have - I couldn't have said it better; thanks Mary.
Our first competition is a week from Saturday when we host a singles and doubles tournament with LC State (ID), Seattle U, and Eastern WA here at Whitman, the WC Fall Invite Sep 17-18th.
Then, two weeks later we also host the Fall Oracle/ITA Regional Championships here at Whitman Sep 30-Oct 2nd (Fri, Sat, Sun) - if you're in the area, come on out, if you're traveling to watch some great tennis, we'd love to see you!
Warm regards from Walla Walla,
Coach John
