The 2024 boys tennis season has begun. Eighteen boys will represent the Logansport Berries as they face off against a variety of opponents. First-year head coach Travis Nolte and assistant coach Noah Lange will be leading the Berries this season.
Nolte gave his thoughts about one of the team’s strengths: resilience.
“There’s been no quit in any of the players,” Nolte said. “At this point, we’ve had some rigorous practices, and they’ve shown resilience. They haven’t given up, and they didn’t quit.”
One weakness he mentioned was the youth of the team. Fourteen of the players are either freshmen or sophomores. However, he sees potential in the young players.
“They’re eager to learn and eager to get out there and work hard and get better at their craft,” Nolte said.
Even if the young athletes struggle with developing their craft, Lange added that the coaches will have plenty of time to work with them.
“When you have all these freshmen and sophomores, you can still adjust to things that they might need to fix early on so they don’t develop bad habits,” Lange said.
He is proud of the amount of players who are ready to learn and compete. Having players who are ready to give their all will give the Berries an edge against their opponents.
“We have a lot of guys that are ready to try to change things they need to change and compete and do whatever they need to do to win,” Lange said. “Whether it’s for themselves or for the team, I think they’re all ready to get better.”
Senior Scott Loman thinks the sky’s the limit for this year’s team. He has been one of the many players who have believed in the youth of the team since day one.
“I see a lot of potential in a lot of these freshmen and sophomores that are coming up, and I think our team’s going to get really good by the end of the season,” Loman said.
He commented on his new coaches as well. Nolte, who works as the SRO at Logansport High School, and Lange, who is a LHS alumni and former tennis player himself.
“I think we have really enthusiastic and involved coaches who are still learning of course as it’s their first year but are really involved, and that’s going to be shown through how we play,” Loman said.
Freshman Owen Hankins reflected on the team’s first loss against Lewis Cass. He played one doubles with Taylor Albright for the varsity team.
“It showed us the amount of work we need to put into the season in order to get to where we need to be,” Hankins said.
