The end of a Season and the start of a new; The Circle we call Slug Tennis

Slug Tennis Family, 

As we sat around in a circle May 13th after our last match of the 2012 season we could feel to our cores the palpable presence of disappointment and heartache, the 2012 season was over. We lost that day to rival CMS in the finals of the NCAA Regional D3 Championships. Shooting for the stars at winning the NCAA Team Title and coming up short no doubt caused a lot of pain that day, but it was pain that we had earned after all we had been through. It was a pain for the Slugs that could only exist after a years worth of dedication, sacrifice, and hard work; it was a pain I was proud to share and experience with my boys.

This last match of our season was an absolute war. We won at #1 doubles with Erich Koenig and Parker Larsen, lost at #2 with Erik Rosner and Ian Stanley, and had match points at #3 with Devin Nerenberg and Eli Scandalis before coming up short by the smallest of margins. The doubles effort was brilliant with points that left spectators gritting their teeth and clinching their fists. The fight continued as all 6 of our Slug warriors went to battle on the singles courts. We came up short that afternoon after hours and hours of a relentless and tenacious effort, we came up short fighting to the very end.

To tap into that feeling of last season as we enter this 2013 season is extremely important for us. To not learn from all the information it had to offer would be a waste. It was an amazing season in its entirety. We reached the finals of the 2012 ITA National Indoor Team Championships, doing this after a very rocky start to our season. We had regular season wins over teams like CMS, Redlands, UCSD, and Cal Lutheran. We avenged our loss to Pomona-Pitzer in the semi’s of Regionals, and did so with an amazing demonstration of heart and backbone. What was most important to me was our effort through the season and even more-so through the finish line. We grew levels as the season progressed, as we can now look back at a season full of depth, knowledge, and amazing memories. In my first season as Head Coach I have to say it was one of the richest experiences of my life.

As we get ready to begin our 2013 season this upcoming weekend at the ITA’s down in Los Angeles, the Slugs are shooting for the stars once again. We finished our 3rd day of practice today and it was clear to see that this group is on a mission. We have five seniors this year: Erich Koenig, Andre Halabi, Sam Rodgers, Parker Larsen, and Erik Rosner. I have had the privilege of working with these boys most of their college carriers, it is a group I expect amazing things from as they put their final stamp on four years of dedication and accomplishment. We have four juniors this year: Bryce Bettwy, Chris Goetz, Michael Saria, and Eli Scandalis. All four of these young men have shown huge improvement over their time here, and I do not expect anything different this season. Our sophomore class consists of returner Max Littlejohn and newcomer Garrett Deguchi. Max had stretches of amazing tennis last year and I am excited to have Garrett join the squad after seeing his improvement since last summer. Our lone freshman is Jimmy Soper from Tucson Arizona. A highly ranked jr. player, Jimmy did an amazing job working tennis camp here at UCSC this summer and will be an amazing addition to the team. Last but not least we have the return of Assistant Coach Brian Pybas. As a player Brian was very familiar with what it felt like to win National Championships; he seems extremely driven to help these boys feel the same.

This is the warrior team of 2013. By now you can probably see that I am a pretty positive writer, but in all seriousness I couldn’t be happier with this years group. It is rare to have a group where every player, top to bottom, trains at a healthy level with encouragement for the growth not just themselves, but for all involved. After today’s practice I looked around and felt that this group will be able to improve as fast as they want to. The effort I saw showed me that we have too many feet pointed in the right direction to go any other way but up. We are going to attack this Championship run with all that we have, with courage, action, compassion, focus, dedication, and heart. We are going to attack this 2013 season the Slug way…

A quick thank you to all who donated to Slug Tennis last season. Due to the financial support from so many of you Slug Tennis is continuing to thrive. This support allowed us coaches to do what we needed to do, I can't articulate how much that meant to me last season to be able to spend my time on the court. 

Lastly is the website to follow our results of this weekends ITA Individual Championships:  http://www.cmsathletics.org/sports/mten/2012-13/releases/ITA_Regional_Preview

Many of you have been asking for the posting of our 2013 schedule which will be up at goslugs.com in one week. It's going to be on amazing season and I am so eager to share it with all of you...

Sincerely, 

Coach Parmelly