Windsor boys tennis is back and in full swing.

Unlike previous tennis seasons at Windsor, the Owls walked into this season with no seniors on the team.

Having no seniors on a varsity team in any sport can be a disadvantage at times. On the flip side, though, it can also be seen as a fresh start and a chance to give the young guys a lot of experience and really build the program from the ground up.  

The Owls have eight underclassmen on the roster and, since this Owls team is so young and inexperienced, the expectation bar was adjusted by head coach Doc Carranza. 

“All of our players are returners, but most were freshmen last year and didn’t get to play a match because of the Covid-19 shutdown in the spring. Because of that, we only have two with experience playing a real match, and that was on the JV level. Nobody on this team has any varsity experience,” Carranza said. 

Carranza wants to use this rarity of having no seniors on his team to his advantage and work on getting these young Owls to the level he knows they can be. 

“We are so inexperienced that I really can’t tell who will have a good year or not. We have some very athletic players on the team this year and some have been playing since the school year started. Tennis is a game that can be picked up easily by some and not by others. Time will tell with this group,” Carranza said. 

So even despite the lack of experience from this core, Carranza believes that the team will be able to blossom via all the in game experience and that in return will be able to push them to be fairly competitive next season.

Confidence and a positive mentality have been proven to be key in sports at the high school and professional level.

“I told the team at the beginning of the season that the only pressure that they will have on them is what they put on themselves. I’m not asking for district or state champs, though it would be welcomed, but just get better as the season goes along. We are aiming at next year and the following years as goals to get kids to the state tournament,” Carranza said.