<p>Hi guys,
Im going to try out for the tennis team next year. I have been playing for about 7 years, but mainly in the summer. What do tennis coaches look for, and how competitive is it? Does it count on college apps? What is the difference between varsity, junior varsity, and the regular freshman team? (im going to be a freshman)
Thanks!</p>
<p>I think you’ll find that this varies tremendously from school to school. My S’s school doesn’t even have a freshman team, just a Varsity and JV. They have a no-cut rule, as the USTA encourages this to expose kids to tennis. THe kids who are talented and have been playing year round usually make Varsity, regardless of what grade they are in.</p>
<p>On the other hand, his team has played schools where they easily won and the school could not even fill its team. So it is a very school specific answer.</p>
<p>surfcity- thanks!
i still have a few questions though. I just found out that my school has Varsity, JV 1, and JV 2. What is the difference between these? Our school is pretty competitive when it comes to tennis.</p>
<p>If I had to guess, that just means that they had so many players that they needed to split JV up into 2 teams to avoid cuts. But I had to guess. :P</p>
<p>Tennis coaches look for good players (obviously) and those with potential. The team would rather take an inexperienced athletic kid than an out of shape kid with more experience. The competitiveness of your team depends solely on your team. My freshman year our #1 went on to play DI at an ivy, and our #2 and #3 went on to play at top 20 DIII teams. However, some of the schools we play are absolutely terrible and are not competitive at all. Tennis can count for college apps, I guess, but not significantly unless you have a big impact on your team. The differences between V, JV, and freshman are quality of the players you play with/against, and possibly the frequency and intensity with which you practice. If you have anymore questions I’d be happy to answer them.</p>
<p>Just like any other sport, it depends on the school.</p>
<p>Bigger schools usually have two teams - a JV and a varsity (some really big schools might even have a freshman team). There are usually 6 slots for singles and 6 slots for doubles for each gender, so you can have a varsity team with anywhere from 12 to 18 people. Whoever aren’t the best 12 to 18 players on the team usually go to JV, where the next best players go. If you’re not good enough to make varsity or JV, then it depends on the school. Some really big schools that have really popular teams might just make cuts, and say “Sorry, bud, try again next year” and you’re off the team. Some will put you on a freshman team if they have one. Some will put you on a JV team and alternate you with the 4th, 5th, and 6th slots. Some might not even have a rigid JV team, and put everybody who’s not varsity as JV. </p>
<p>As for deciding who gets varsity spots, usually teams will go head-to-head to see who’s the best. First-best player gets 1st single slots, second-best player gets 2nd single slots, and so on. Some schools allow kids to be on both singles and doubles, but others don’t. So it’s usually based mostly on skill, but other factors can play in as well. For example, if there’s a new kid who is talented and shows a lot of potential but may not be as good as the other players, they might let him/her on varsity. On the contrary, if there’s a kid who is very good but doesn’t show up to practice often, they may cut him in favor of a harder-working person, even if the harder-working person may not be as skilled. It all depends on the team and coaches, however.</p>
<p>Smaller schools usually don’t split up into varsity and JV unless tennis is really popular. Generally, just everybody is on one team and they try to fill up 6 singles and 6 doubles slots - so if there’s only 10 to 15 people or fewer of your gender on a team, then usually this is the case. During the meets, coaches will usually switch between 4th, 5th, and 6th slots to give the lower-level players equal playing time. Sometimes, if during a meet where both teams have extra players, then coaches will try and work on an exhibition or unofficial match that doesn’t go on your record, but will give some of the players who aren’t in the normal 6 slots some extra playing time.</p>
<p>So it really depends on the school.</p>
<p>As for college apps, don’t bother doing it just for that unless you have a talent for it. Tennis is arguably the most popular, common, and most cookie-cutter sports that colleges will see. Unless you’re nationally-ranked or plan on getting recruited, colleges probably won’t give it much more than a glance.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with it, don’t get me wrong - I do it and I have a blast. But it’s not worth much on the college app.</p>
<p>Regarding “does it count on college apps” I guess I interpreted that to mean is it an EC you can list. Yes of course it is a valid sport just like soccer or track or any other sport you would list on you app. I am not sure if you meant something different. </p>
<p>I disagree with the tone of the other poster who called it cookie cutter and common. There are fewer players on a varsity squad than on a soccer squad for example so I imagine there are more HS kids with soccer or football on their resume. </p>
<p>As to cookie cutter, I don’t really understand that comment. Is chess club cookie cutter? French club? Field hockey?</p>
<p>It’s cookie cutter because tennis tends to be the sport of choice for many smart kids as opposed to basketball and football for example</p>
<p>^^^ah perhaps a corollary of George Plimptons adage that ‘the smaller the ball, the better the book’?? :)</p>