The Colonia High School’s Girls’ Tennis team got a new coach for the 2014 season.
Special education teacher Ms. Courtney Gambetta took on the role of the new head girls’ tennis coach. She decided to take on the opportunity to coach when she found out there was an opening last year. Gambetta stated, “I love being a role model and I love athletics.”
Tennis team member, senior Shyama Shah described Gambetta simply as “inspiring.”
The new coach has been warmly welcomed by the team. Tennis manager, senior TJ Boyle explained the new coach as, “Awesome! We really needed her in the program. I was nervous to get a new coach because change is scary, so I expected the worst. But what I have received is more than I could have asked for; I couldn’t ask for a better coach.”
Gambetta’s favorite part about coaching is being able to see students in an alternate setting. She also likes to see the student’s competitive edge because sometimes students are completely different on the court than in the classroom. Gambetta enjoys challenging her team members and loves an athletic lifestyle. With new Coach Gambetta, numbers or the overall team’s record does not matter as much because the team’s record does not reflect how much fun they have or how positive their attitudes are together as a team. Although the girls’ tennis team currently holds a record of 0-8, they have been winning more sets than last year, which means individually they have improved, and maybe it has something to do with each team member helping each other and encouraging each other to try their best. So, are practices different from last year?
According to Shah, at practices: “We do more conditioning and work together to help each other improve.”
Gambetta’s coaching philosophy is that structured practices, hard work, dedication and a positive attitude will bring on success. Boyle later continued to describe new coach Gambetta as a positive asset to coaching tennis, “She’s determined, definitely determined because she pushes us and wants this program to be as good as it can be and although sometimes her rules may seem unfair to some, she is actually giving us discipline.”
The girls’ tennis team hopes to do well in the GMC’s and improve on their own individual records. Although they do strive to win more matches, they also just want to have fun. For the seniors on the team, they hope to make their last season the best one yet. While the freshmen wish to kick off their high school tennis experience as an enjoyable one, hopefully they want to be a part of the team next year, as well. Does Gambetta hope to be the 2015 girls’ tennis head coach? “Well,” she explained, “Absolutely! I plan on being the coach next year.”
