By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Win or lose, the seniors on the Los Fresnos boys and girls tennis teams have no regrets.
The Falcons’ James Maestro, Miguel Cortez, Yvette Hernandez, Paul Garate and Ricky Garcia are competing in the District 32-6A tennis tournament for the final time this week.
The event will conclude today at the Brownsville Tennis Center.
“I feel like it was just another tournament to get ready for,” Cortez said. “It didn’t hit me that it was my last tournament until I was finished, when I left the court (Wednesday). It’s bittersweet.”
While Cortez and the other seniors tried to treat it as just another tournament, it didn’t feel that way, they said. Hernandez even felt she played differently.
“I felt like I was trying a lot harder because it was my last chance to put it all out there,” she said.
The Los Fresnos seniors are experiencing the same thing as others during their last year of competition, but for a coach it’s a constant cycle of goodbyes every year.
“I think they see it winding down,” Los Fresnos coach Bill Sandlin said. “They see (they’re) going to be done (this week), they start getting a little reflective, they look back. They’ve worked and did pretty well. To see these kids getting better and improving, all of the sudden it’s over. You continue the cycle every year as a coach.”
The seniors talked about coming together as a team and creating a bond that they’ve shared.
“It did hit me more than others,” Maestro said. “I felt I had a need for competition and being the last one, it felt like something very special because I had got so close to my team. This was going to be the last time I got to compete with them all together, so it was a very emotional night previous.”
The group was proud of what it accomplished, the progress that it made during team tennis in the fall and competing individually in the spring.
“I feel like the year went really fast, but looking back I feel we all improved a lot,” Cortez said.
More than one senior will remember the summer workouts, where the team really bonded together before the season started.
“I will remember the hard work in the heat, listening to coach,” Hernandez said. “Trying to do our best so we can come out here and compete.”
Maestro added, “I’m going to miss all the people. Practicing every day for three, three and a half hours in the hot sun during the summer, they were all there with me, improving alongside me. It was something very special for me to see all of us grow and develop, and I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever match again.”
Sandlin said this is one of the hardest parts about being a coach at the end of the season.
“As one coach said, ‘Just when you get them where you want them, they’re playing good, then it’s time for them to leave. It’s their senior year,’” he said. “Getting to know them and having them around. They’ve been mellow, but when on the court they fight hard. They work hard for me and do a good job. I can see them doing a lot of good things in the future.
“I’m going to miss them. I’m going to miss this group.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.