LYNN — Spring athletes around the country are unable to put the hard work they put forth during the offseason to use because of the coronavirus pandemic, and that doesn’t stop on the diamonds and lacrosse fields.
Junior captain Shakib Idris and the rest of the English boys tennis team had been putting in time on the court regularly and were looking forward to it paying off this year.
“I think we all thought we were in a much better position than we had been in past years,” Idris said. “Last year, our senior captains were absent sometimes at practices and in the offseason. So this year we wanted to be ahead of the game. That’s why we started captains practices early in the offseason and recruited some of the freshmen we knew played in middle school. It was looking good.
“We played on the English courts right up until they told us we couldn’t anymore,” Idris added.
Unfortunately, Idris and the rest of the Bulldogs haven’t been able to put that extra work to use and it still remains in question if they’ll get the chance at all.
“It was disappointing,” Idris said of finding out about the season. “Me and the other captains started practices two or three weeks before the season started. Then the week before the season was set to start, school got canceled. We didn’t think too much of it. Then they told us it was until the end of month. We said, ‘okay, the season will start the day we come back,’ but obviously it kept getting worse.”
Since then, the Bulldogs have joined other sports in the waiting game. This week, the MIAA Board of Directors voted unanimously to hold only a team tournament for tennis, with no individual tournaments.
“Obviously these are unprecedented times,” English boys tennis coach Kerry King said. “I know there’s a lot of disappointment for a lot of players right now, but it’s important during these times to think of safety and do what’s right.
“Everything is still up in the air,” King said. “I know the plan is to continue with the team tournament but even that is up in the air. We’re just waiting and hopefully there will be some kind of season especially for the poor seniors.”
English had two senior returners this season, Justin Nguyen and Aaron Dulong. Along with some returning juniors, King — like his players — was heading into the season excited.
“A lot of times we come with inexperienced players and you try to teach the game,” King said. “But we did have a lot of returners this year. We had three juniors with experience and I was hoping this year they would really be able to blossom.”
“We were all looking forward to the new potential,” Idris said. ” Obviously, some slots are figured out but whoever was going to play doubles this year would’ve been a surprise.”
Preparing for a possible season has more to do with staying in shape than anything with local tennis courts closed off. Despite that, King believes tennis athletes could be in a better boat than some other sports.
“Unfortunately the tennis courts are closed,” King said. “Kids have to focus on home workouts to stay in shape. Everyone is in the same boat so it should be interesting. In terms of tennis, it’s easy to work on timing and stamina unlike a sport like baseball where athletes have to manage their arms. We should be okay if we get the chance for a season.”