Sorry for the blog hiatus, but we're back in school, back at practice and so I'll move away from my usual style and give you some bullet points on all that's happening with Whitman Tennis
- School has begun! While summer weather continues and Whitties enjoy being outside, they are also back to work in the classroom. So many players on the team have exciting things to report from the classroom. It was terrific to see returners come back and welcome 5 new first years and see their families in Walla Walla.
- Fall practice has begun! It's so much fun to see everyone back on campus, but better yet, we hit the courts this week for our first practices. There is certainly a lot of work to be done, but I couldn't be more thrilled with both the level of play from everyone for the first couple days and even more for the effort and enthusiasm to be together as a team and work hard to improve our tennis.
- In what is becoming a fall tradition, we went berry picking with the men's team. This is a terrific way to get off campus, see the amazing landscape changes and beauty that are a highlight of living here and just spend time getting to know each other and reconnect after the summer. Some highlights were the hospitality of Biology Professor Delbert Hutchison, Kathleen and the whole family who welcomed us to their home/horse ranch along the Walla Walla river outside Milton-Freewater in Oregon. Another was Coach Jeff's cooking. He has become a dutch oven master and this time prepared chicken and veggie pad thai over the fire in dutch ovens for two whole tennis teams and it was delicious, thanks Jeff! While dinner was cooking, everyone walked up and down the river to find the ripest blackberries to take home, but there were plenty there to do some dutch oven cobblers to finish off the evening eating and hanging out around the fire. Jeff took a ton of pictures that you can view on this link
- I also started a facebook page for the team, and while I'm learning very slowly, I've been able to post some updates and photos for different things there, it is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whitman-Womens-Tennis/155654211167580
News from Coach John Hein
Summer Tennis Camps and Events:
Team Photo's on Flickr!
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Coaching Philosophy
To me, being a college student is about opportunity and growth. As a coach, I consider myself lucky to spend 4 years providing opportunity while nurturing growth. We use common goals, hard work, open communication, respect and accountability as means to building meaningful relationships and improving each player’s skill set on and off the court. This means embodying championship virtues to inspire athletic, academic and personal growth that not only happens while you are at Whitman, but becomes a part of who you are throughout life.