The historically successful tennis team is off to another strong start, this year headed by a new Director of Tennis, Ms. Tracy Tooke.
Coach Tooke comes to Haverford from Julia R. Masterman School, where she coached the boys’ team to a PIAA 2A State Championship. Before coaching high school tennis, she competed and coached at the D-I level, playing four years of tennis at Auburn University and coaching the George Washington University and Temple University tennis teams.
“[Coach Tooke] has been a seamless integration to the team. She is very focused on making sure that the team is doing things together,” Sixth Form Co-Captain Arsh Aggarwal said. “Every dynamic warm-up we do, every lap we run has to be together.”
Co-Captain and Sixth Former Graeme Herbert agrees.
“[Coach Tooke] has integrated with the team great,” Herbert said. “She is a great addition to the team.”
This year, the team hopes to secure their fourteenth consecutive Inter-Ac title.
“I hope to continue the success that the tennis team has at Haverford,” Coach Tooke said. “I am confident that we will continue this reputation.”
The makeup of the tennis team this year is younger and hungrier than in past years.
“I think everyone knew this year was going to be a little harder as we had a lot of players graduate last year,” Aggarwal said. “However, we also have the comfort of knowing that the majority of our team is pretty young.”
Herbert emphasized the dedication and commitment exhibited by the team members beyond just school tennis.
“The guys put in a lot of time outside of school [practice],” Herbert said, “so we can do very well because of that.”
As The Index goes to press, the tennis team will face four other schools in a week full of matches. Despite the uncooperative weather, the team feels prepared to perform in the upcoming matches.
“A lot of the focus has been on fitness. We’ve been forced to spend a lot of days inside the fieldhouse doing different sprints and drills.”
Arsh Aggarwal ’24
“We haven’t been able to practice [outside] that much, it has been really rainy,” Herbert said. “We do a lot of cardio, movement, running. We try to do as much as we can without being outside.”
Aggarwal emphasized the idea of using the most of what the team can do.
“A lot of the focus has been on fitness,” Aggarwal said. “We’ve been forced to spend a lot of days inside the fieldhouse doing different sprints and drills. With the tough week coming up, we are making sure that no minute is wasted on the court and that we are staying focused.”
In addition to coaching varsity tennis, Coach Tooke also coaches the middle school program.
“I think that it’s a good thing to be involved with the middle school program,” Coach Tooke said. “It allows me to be around the young players and set the tone of the program as they grow into the program. There is a lot of talent there.”
While winning the Inter-Ac and performing well at other tournaments is important, Coach Tooke also hopes to instill the values of the sport in the players.
“The results and winning is a goal, but more importantly embracing the process and developing those qualities that transition beyond the tennis court,” Coach Tooke said. “The resilience, time commitment, work ethic, team-first mentality, and friendships that develop are really what sports programs are about. Tennis is an individual sport and is a crash course in facing yourself. With hard work and discipline, good things happen.”
