What a season. 2021 made history for the MACAWCA Varsity Girls Tennis team, as it was their first time ever competing at the state tournament. The young ladies on this team took their losses with an overwhelming sense of pride, as making it to state was an accomplishment in itself. The Morris Area Chokio Alberta West Central Area tennis program has come a long way over the years, through both their season records and roster numbers.
Let’s backtrack a little to the 2015-2016 season. This season was also historically significant, as it was the first year the Morris Area Chokio Alberta tennis team Co-operated with West Central Area. The team was no longer MACA but MACAWCA.
Britney House currently serves as the head coach of the Varsity tennis team and has for seven years. Jaclyn Hoeper and Kelly White serve by her side, Hoeper as the Assistant Varsity Coach and White as the Head Junior Varsity coach. Hoeper, hailing from WCA, has been a part of the Varsity team for five years, taking over the head coach position while House was on maternity leave in the 2019-2020 season. White has been the JV coach for four years since she began her teaching career at Morris Area High School in the Fall of 2018. Britney House was once a part of the MACA tennis team herself and was a captain her senior year, the season of 2007-2008. As an alumnus of this tennis team, House knows the ins and outs of almost every aspect of tennis, as well as strategies and techniques for improvements against their opponents. House was one of three captains her senior year, with the total number of varsity players adding up to fourteen. Jim Gillis was the head coach that year, his coaching career lasting a total of 13 years until House took over with Heidi Greene. Throughout the years, coaches and players have continually changed, which drastically affects the roster numbers.
Every year is different in tennis. Proof of this is shown through roster numbers, which have varied immensely. For example, one of the lowest Junior Varsity rosters was during the 2006-2007 season, which included only seven players. However, the very next year their numbers doubled, and the ‘08-’09 season produced a JV tennis team with fourteen players. As time went on, the numbers continued to change, but the JV tennis roster numbers have been consistent, if not steadily increasing year by year since 2018. This fall season, the numbers reached over twenty players. Along with an ever-changing roster, the season scores also differ remarkably depending on the year, the circumstances, the players, the coaches, the opponents, etc.
Some seasons are better than others, as far as records are concerned. Although there are many Varsity records to page through in the history of Morris’ tennis team, I have chosen five seasons, in particular, to focus on. Time-travel back to the year 1993, the MACA Varsity tennis team record was 5-13, meaning five team wins and 13 losses. Fast-forward to 2001, the record was a whopping 0-26, with not a single winning match in the season. The 2008 season wasn’t much better, the record displaying 1-26. Things began looking up in 2019, with an ending season score of 6-9. Finally, we conclude with the most recent season score, 2021. The girls played an amazing season this year, with an ending record of 11-5: a winning season.
The tennis program has flourished throughout the many years it has been in practice. Different coaches, teammates, opponents, and circumstances have shaped each season in a special way. Being a part of the tennis team myself, it was an honor to look back on the history of the sport I love and see how much it has grown and changed over the years. However, a few things remained constant: the passion for the sport and the close-knit relationships formed between the teammates. No matter the season score, these young ladies have continued to work hard and have fun with the sport and the people in it. New years bring new beginnings, and as this one comes to a close, we can only wait in anticipation to see what the girls will bring to the court next year.