Tennis: Not all players and coaches happy with length of postseason

Casey Fitchett isn’t in physics class. Noel Flemmer is missing an AP exam. Alex Ritter isn’t taking her Standards of Learning test.

They are playing tennis.

Since late April, the top high school players have been in and out of class to accommodate the seemingly endless postseason.

The two-tiered tournament structure – team events one week, singles and doubles the next – makes the tennis postseason twice as long as other sports. Making matters worse, postseason tennis matches routinely begin as early as 9 a.m. and continue throughout the day.

“It only affects a small number of kids,” Western Branch athletic director Mark Didawick said. “But those are generally the best students in your school.”

Indeed, Hickory’s Fitchett, half of the Southeastern District championship doubles team, is No. 2 in her senior class. And Maury’s Flemmer, a freshman, jokingly referred to himself as “a genius.”

Not everyone minds . Cox’s Ian Fraser seemed thrilled to be at Huntington Park for the Eastern Region singles tournament on a recent Monday.

“Missing school, that’s what I’m about,” Fraser said.

Not all students share Fraser’s glee. Final exams and SOL tests add to the end-of-year crunch.

“You miss one day, you miss more than you can imagine,” said Fitchett, who actually cried when told she had to miss physics for tennis. “They say this semester doesn’t matter to seniors, but it does.”

Cox’s Jenny Lee missed four straight school days while chasing region team and doubles titles.

“I stress out,’’ said Lee, who at the time faced the prospect of missing four more days in the next two weeks for state competition.

Students are encouraged to meet with teachers in advance when tennis interferes with school, and most teachers work to schedule makeup dates for missed work. Not surprisingly, however, many teachers are just as frustrated.

“Four days is definitely too much,” said Hickory’s Phyllis Penner, an advanced-placement history and the Hawks’ tennis coach.

The problems aren’t confined to region and state events. Some players missed four class days to play in the Southeastern District tournament. Penner was so incensed, she drafted a letter to athletic directors and coaches.

“The whole idea is we don’t want to pull kids out of school, especially the week before AP exams,” she said. “It’s way too much school to miss. We have lights, so we can play at night. We’re not like golf that has to beat the daylight.”

Meanwhile, Didawick is exploring ways to streamline the postseason. More afternoon/evening play is an obvious solution, and Didawick also would like to see some matches scheduled for Saturdays.

Weekend play might not set well with the top players, though, as these athletes often use this time to improve their rankings in USTA-sanctioned events.

Ritter, who won the region girls title, suggested she might not have played if the tournament was on the weekend.

The boys champion, Fraser, also said he wants no part of Saturday matches.

But it seems inevitable that change is likely, so the familiar sentiment doesn’t continue.

“I don’t want to have to choose between tennis and school,” Hickory’s Gabrielle Krupp said.