On the tennis court, Coach Jeff Rickert has become a staple to the team. Over the years, Rickert has made it a point to have a working plan as a coach when it comes to working on and with the team. He started playing tennis his senior year of high school, starting his passion for the sport, beginning his path to where he is today. Rickert began his coaching career by joining the team as an assistant coach.
The previous head coach not being able to be as incorporated with the team allowed Rickert to be more involved with the team and helped lead him to the position he is in today. He was able to see the coaching strategies he preferred and the ones he didn’t, giving him almost a trial run as being the head coach.
“The guy who was the head coach was not physically able to do the drills. So what I was going to be there for was to do the drills and drive the bus; he was there to be the lead coach,” Rickert said.
As head coach he wants the girls to become better at their sport and train as much as possible, but they are also still students, so maintaining the aspects of student-athlete life is just as important, if not more so.
“We have athletes that are also good students, so I’m not too worried about it. I have a girl today who sent me a reminder saying she won’t be able to come to the match due to schoolwork. So I try hard to work things out with them to make sure things fit within their schedules.”
Coaching does come with its difficulties as well; a major one is the time commitment that comes with it. Often, this makes it harder to create those personal plans or grading assignments after school to keep up with everything.
“Well, probably for every coach it’s gonna come down to time. It’s just a big commitment… I don’t eat good. I’m eating when I get home late at night, and I’m not exercising; my grading can be pushed back if I’m not careful. So time it just eats away,” Rickert said.
With the season coming to a close, Rickert is hoping to gain a few more wins this year. Overall, Rickert enjoys coaching the girls’ tennis team and helping them improve their skills.
