For the last four seasons Mr. Mark Antonetti ’84 coached the tennis team at Mount Carmel, but recently he stepped down, which made room for a new, promising coach.
Mr. Jeremiah Campion ’02 will now lead the tennis team into their next challenging season, alongside assistant coaches Mark McCormick, Joanna Bauza, and Ralph Medley.
“We have a lot of experience through drills,” Coach Campion said. “We have other coaches to give a different perspective so that I’m not the only one trying to help them out. We want to make sure that they [the team] stays keen and competitive.”
Since March 3 the tennis team started practicing at Washington Park in Woodlawn. There, coach Campion introduced a new drill to help foster competition amongst the team.
“The main one I do is Champions Versus Challengers,” he said. “Challengers are always going to challenge the champions and try to take over their side of the court, or champions challenge the other champions on a second court to get the most wins before doing push-ups against the other champions.”
Senior singles player Dale Twine feels strongly about Champions Versus Challengers.
“That’s definitely one of my favorite games of all time,” he said. “I like the low pressure but also being able to dial it up if I want to.”
The Caravan is gathering their competitive spirit in order to prepare for their first game against the Loyola Academy Ramblers at Washington Park on April 1. Even though the team has home court advantage, their first match is set to be a tough one.
“Last year we got smoked by Loyola,” senior doubles player Logan Wagner said. “They’re a good overall school.”
Even though they lost to Loyola last season, the team was still able to put up a respectable 4-4-1 record. The team is looking to improve their record this season.
“We have to look out for Loyola and [Saint] Ignatius,” senior doubles player Angel Reyes said. “We have a chance against all other teams. We can have a positive record, just depending on how we do.”
Another aspect Coach Campion brings to practice is his energy.
“He can hit with us, and warm-up with us,” Twine said. “We have to run two laps around the park before we start, he’ll run them with us no problem. He’s very young and vigorous.”
After he graduated from Mount Carmel, coach Campion played tennis at Monmouth College, and would later begin teaching. Now that he has returned to campus, he intends to remain a coach.
“I went into teaching physics and mathematics, and during that time I coached wrestling for Bogan High School,” he said. “I was flip-flopping between coaching cross-country and tennis when I taught at Maria High School. Mount Carmel did reach out to me to try to teach physics. They were in need, and I wasn’t able to come into the school to help out because I was fulfilling other contract duties. Now I feel like the stars are aligned.”
Even though the tennis team is entering into a challenging season, their new coach and returning players intend on making the most of it.
“I’ve definitely built myself through tennis, it has changed my life for the better,” Twine said. “I’m looking forward to my last, great season.”
