Being a second-semester senior can be tough, especially if you’ve already gotten into college. It’s easy to stop caring as much as you once did about grades, even for the most driven of students. This so-called “senioritis” can also affect sports. For some, senior year is a culmination of years of training, and results in new PRs and maybe even some records. Others view their last season a little differently and begin to apply the “senioritis” thought process to their given sport.
Alex Glickman ’16, a member of the IHS Boys’ Tennis Team, has been playing competitive tennis since seventh grade. Since he has no plans to play anything other than recreational tennis in college, this will be his last year. I talked to him about his upcoming tennis season, as well as what he is expecting for the future.
Marlo Zorman ’16: We’re only a few weeks into spring sports, but have you noticed anything different on the team? How is the team different this year?
Alex Glickman: It looks like the team is going to be very different this year. From last year’s starters, we lost four seniors plus two other players who decided not to play this year. We will also have a very young team, with some players starting who haven’t in the past and many freshman. We have won 55 matches in a row and it should continue this year. However, I think that our matches will be much more competitive—perfect for spectators.
MZ: As a second-semester senior, you must be experiencing some degree of senioritis. Has any of that transferred into tennis?
AG: I am experiencing some senioritis with tennis this year. As a senior, I feel less pressure to “prove myself” to the coach or my teammates. I think that this senioritis has actually improved my tennis. I feel like I am playing less tight and enjoying playing tennis more. Of course, it is only the start of the season, and once more weeks have passed, I might grow tired of the daily two-hour practices.
MZ: Spring sports are huge time commitments. What made you decide to play tennis and give up much of your free time?
AG: I really enjoyed the experience of being on the team last year. Not only did we win all of our matches, but the team also had a fun atmosphere. I want to continue our success from the last few years, and as a singles player this year, I think that I will have a bigger impact on the team’s results.
Glickman seems to have a pretty positive view about the senioritis that is beginning to settle in and the prospect of being a senior on the tennis team. Whether you view the last season of your high-school sports career as a possibility to shatter records or as a time to relax, it is probably most important to have fun, and the only real thing that can stop that is Saturday practice.