Huskies build up new tennis players and strengthen returners

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies have returned to the tennis courts as they prepare to play in another successful season following the boys’ top-three finish and the girls finishing as the Central Washington Athletic Conference league champs. Coaches Caleb and Priscilla Tovar said they are ready to bring up a new group of dedicated players for the 2026 season. 

“They definitely competed,” said Caleb. “We lost quite a few seniors on both sides. It’s a matter of rebuilding now, but traditionally around here, we get kind of lucky and a lot of kids enjoy playing and you get younger siblings that have played at least a little bit before.” 

This season was the biggest start to the season yet, as the coaches said 108 players signed up to join the team.

“We got a huge turnout, we normally do get pretty big numbers,” he said. “It’s kind of been just a matter of juggling all those kids and unfortunately not having a middle school program over here, we have a lot of first timers.” 

With a large number of first-time players, much of the early season has been spent finding enough court space for everyone to practice and break down the fundamentals. Caleb said he has the players starting off with no ball and working on their swinging form, while giving them different tips on how to hold the racket and the different grips they can use. 

“Just trying to find what works for them and letting them know that it’s going to take time,” he said.  

Aside from new players, there are some strong returners such as seniors Shaylee Freeman and Faith Risenmay on the girls side who were the number two doubles team last season. Along with them are Olivia Harris, Hazel Roylance and a group of young players who have already begun to show their dedication. 

On the boys side, there are only two returning tennis players with Camilo Mendez and Armani Zuniga. Much like the girls team, the boys squad also has a group who put in hard work in the offseason and has surprised the coaches in how much they improved. 

“We’ve got some kids who just enjoy the game and they play a lot over the summertime, so there’s a couple of kids that we were kind of surprised by how much they’ve improved just over the summer,” said Caleb. 

With tennis being a sport based around individual improvement, a lot of success comes down to the players putting in that extra time to compete at a high level. Othello’s coaches said they work to do whatever they can to keep the Huskies motivated and push forward. 

“I think we’ve built a good rapport with all our kids and I think the kids love coming out and we just try to make it fun,” said Priscilla. “We’re playing music at practice, we’re encouraging each other, we really get their feedback on what they want to work on and that’s how we make our practice plans.” 

She said one of their main jobs as coaches is to foster a positive culture in the sport and doing that has been easy with the good sportsmanship from the athletes and the support from their families. These bonds combined with the dedication to the sport is where the coaches expect most of the team’s growth to stem from. 

“Tennis is pretty laid back and these kids, they’re go-getters, they seem to just want it,” said Caleb. 

The Huskies first meet of the season will be on the road against Sageview on March 17 at 4 p.m. 

    Olivia Harris of the Huskies prepares to hit the ball back during a match against Quincy last spring.