Picture Credit: Ila Tafreshi
On April 16th, the Boys Tennis season held their senior night which marked the end of their 2024 season. This year, the team was led by Captains Aryan Yenni (12), Sean Krachenfels (12), and Ojas Vatsyayan (12) with help from Coach Barry Poole. The Varsity Team ended with a record of 6-6.. .
Coach Barry Poole is proud of the team as they were able to “clear some hurdles that we faced earlier in the season.” These hurdles included faring well in the tie-breaker matches, which was a weak-point for the team at the beginning. Poole has been a tennis coach for over 30 years and has played tennis almost all his life. Due to injuries, he is now coaching full time. He took a unique perspective towards coaching the team this year. He explained that the coach can only perform as well as the players who take part in the team. He worked to leverage the skillsets of all the players in order to have the most successful year possible.
Captain Aryan Yenni and Coach Poole both noted that this year’s team had many strong Freshmen who helped push the Varsity team towards their wins. Aryan Yenni started playing tennis in 1st grade and joined the Irvington Boys Varsity Team as a Freshman himself.
“As a Freshman on Varsity, I wasn’t really heard much,” Yenni observed. “But as Captain I was able to make sure that this doesn’t happen to this year’s Freshman.” He also believed he gained a lot out of being Captain, especially in terms of learning how to be a leader. The work paid off with Irvington finishing 4th in the District.
Yenni thought that his role was mostly as a coach and related to the game, rather than logistical planning. He coached by first observing the players and then offering advice based on his own experiences. His coaching helped Irvington clinch up heated matches against Irvington’s rivals like American and Washington.
Evidently, there is a lot for the future captains and coaches to learn from this season for future years. Captains believe that being high-energy during practice translates to a more energetic tennis team. Upperclassmen being low-energy takes a toll on the entire team through a ripple effect to the underclassmen. As another season goes by, this season’s underclassmen will soon be leading the team next year. Yenni explains that they should “be louder, be fiery, and things will be better.”
