The JV tennis team had an eventful and exciting season. The training at the beginning of the tennis season started off intensely, which at first overwhelmed many of the JV tennis players, five of whom were new to the team. From doing what felt like an hour of ab exercises to running around the school campus, both the JV and Varsity teams worked hard to get their physical strength up after a long and restful summer holiday.

“Although at the time the physical training was really hard, in the end, the hours of work really paid off,” said Shiori (9), an athlete on the JV tennis team.

At the start of the season, the members of the JV tennis team were fairly quiet during practices since they did not know each other that well. However, as the season progressed, they started to get to know each other much more, and by the end of the season, the group felt so close, it was as if they had been a team for years.

“Because there are only seven of us on the team, we got to know each other so well in such a short period of time,” said Ayana (9), a JV tennis player. “The bonds of friendship I made with [the team] this season is something really special, and something I won’t forget.”

Every sport season has its own obstacles, and this season, the tennis team’s main obstacle was the weather. Almost half of their practices were held inside the mini gym due to the rainy weather which often drenched the courts. This frustrated the JV and Varsity teams as they got less practice on the courts. However, the hours of training inside the mini gym acted as a great opportunity to strengthen the athletes, which later helped them during the tennis matches.

On Saturday, October 31, the JV tennis tournament took place at St.Mary’s International School and Seisen International School. This year, four Kanto Plain schools (ASIJ, ISSH, SIS and CAJ) participated in the tournament.

At first, the athletes became a bit worried when they heard that the tournament was going to be held at two different schools, since, in the past, they have always travelled as a team. Also, when the team was notified that their team captain and singles 2 player, Abby (10), was going to be unable to participate in the tournament due to illness, they became even more nervous about the tournament.

On the day of the tournament, the four doubles players, Ayana (9), Jasmine (10), Ayako (11), and Sema (11) competed at Seisen, while minutes minutes away, the two singles players, Nicole (9) and Shiori (9), competed at St.Mary’s. Although the temperature was cold on the day of the tournament, the weather was cloudy and blocked the sun which was better for the athletes when they were serving.

ISSH placed third overall in the tournament, after ASIJ and Seisen, who placed first and second.