The Concordia women’s tennis team is preparing to dominate their upcoming season by following intense training regimes on and off the court. 

Grace Gorges, the co-captain of the women’s tennis team stated this team is “one of the fittest tennis teams I've seen since my time here and it is very exciting going into the new season.” This newfound drive was sparked by Danny Baladi, the head strength and conditioning coach at Concordia, whom Gorges described as a “new and incredible addition.” Baladi was added to the athletics team as the head strength and conditioning coach this fall of 2021 and is already showing great potential for increasing the fitness of the women’s tennis team. 

The tennis team trains together for three hours each day during their off-season with two hours on the court and one hour off the court. Before tennis practice, the team wakes up early for weight training and conditioning. “Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we have weights from 7 to 8 a.m. and Tuesday and Thursday we have conditioning on the track or tennis courts from 7 to 8 a.m.,” said Gorges. 

From Sept. 29 through Oct.3, the women’s team participated in the Division II Men’s and Women’s West ITA Regional Championships, hosted by Fresno Pacific University. While most members of the team only won one round of singles before being defeated in the next round, Heather Richards, a sophomore from Hemet, California, fought her way to the quarter-finals. To reach the quarter-finals, Richards defeated Lily McNeill from Biola University 7-5 and 6-2, and Madison Kane from Azusa Pacific University 3-6, 6-3 and 10-8. 

Although the women’s tennis team celebrates Richards’ wins, the team will return to on and off-court training to improve the skills of the team as a whole. For Jennifer Jolin, co-captain, the results of the Women’s West ITA Regional Championships do not deter her hopes for the tennis team’s success in the future. “Tournaments in pre-season are typically where we work out kinks and figure out what we need to work on, and after this tournament, we clearly understand our strengths and weaknesses,” said Jolin.

The women’s tennis team takes those strengths and weaknesses to Baladi, who incorporates them into strength and conditioning. Baladi makes adjustments for each individual, but he recognizes that most tennis players face the same struggle. They all have “a lot of overdevelopment in the front shoulder and chest… whereas the muscles in the posterior shoulder rotator cuff are overlooked and this causes fatigue and pain,” said Baladi. “I want to make sure that we are doing well by the health and safety of the student-athletes,” added Baladi. 

Jolin and Gorges recognize that it is important to create an environment where each player on the women’s tennis team feels comfortable to grow not only as an athlete but as an individual. They create this environment by holding meetings with the rest of the team to give each member the chance to express their opinions and to be included. Follow the women’s tennis team @cuitennis on Instagram.

Tags: Tennis, women's athletics, team

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