When most think of the most popular sports in the world, tennis probably doesn’t come first to mind. Most think of sports like football, basketball, or baseball. Surprisingly, however, tennis ranks higher than all of those sports and fourth overall according to viewership statistics. With almost 1 billion viewers across mainly Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania, it cements itself as one of the most popular sports in the world, along with one of the most competitive.
While Brunswick Tennis may not be averaging 1 billion viewers every year, the culture surrounding our school’s team is impressive in its own respect. While Brunswick Tennis only has about 11 boys varsity players and 12 varsity girls players, they hold a winning record in both boys (6-3) and girls (8-1) this season. Just last year, Brunswick tennis had several players move on to the college level, notably Alex Bobofchak at Bridgewater College college tennis.
Brunswick’s tennis team also has some very promising new players, such as Ayden McDonald, who holds first singles as a freshman, along with Chris Price, a junior, who just picked up tennis for the first time since middle school this year and now holds a position in first doubles.
One thing people may not know about Brunswick Tennis is how they treat their players. When Coach Larry Collins was asked what Brunswick Tennis offers their players that other schools don’t, he said, “We got some pretty good food (…) from me, of course.”
Almost every match the team is given an array of snacks and foods, along with sweet treats on special occasions. Most match days have pretzels or croissants, cookies and zebra cakes, crackers and cheese. Because of this, matchdays are always something to look forward to, regardless of the weather or where the matches are.
Unlike most sports such as basketball or football, you can start playing tennis at any time and play it for the rest of your life. Realistically, if you’re not going to college for most sports, you’ll be done playing them after high school, which discourages a lot of potential athletes from trying a new sport past freshman year. As Coach Collins said,
It really is never too late to start tennis, senior or freshman year, there is nothing stopping you from starting this wonderful game.
