By Dana Ehrmann
Sports Correspondent
Dr. Maureen Lavin is ready to breathe new life into the girls Catholic Central tennis team.
She is the new head coach of a team that will be competing varsity this year after last year playing at the JV level.
Coach Lavin seeks to make it a smooth transition, bringing her United States Tennis Association (UTSA) summer league experience to the table.
In 2011, her UTSA team won at the state level and made it to sectionals, held in Indianapolis.
At Catholic Central, she will oversee a small squad of just four players.
Junior Sydney Robson and sophomore Eden Kopac played last year, while junior Cora Hulsey and freshman Claire Schilz are making their Lady Topper debuts this season.
“We are still building the team, after having had a bye year last year, with just JV,” said the coach.
With her small and relatively inexperienced group, Coach Lavin stresses both the fundamentals and having fun in her teaching, believing that building the right skills also builds confidence.
“I would like to get the girls to be very proficient at proper tennis form which increases one’s enjoyment of the game that can be a lifelong pastime, unlike a lot of other sports.”
According to the coach, having fun is a skill in itself, and she wants her players to be open to learning how to get better at that, too.
Her ideal player is “someone who is willing to be taught, and is willing to work on breaking old habits that are not as conducive to enjoying the game as much as possible.”