North Shore Tennis League Report

Willows junior teams pack a wallop

In a lot of cases, a bye week means a day off. A little R and R.

How did the North Shore League’s first-place Junior teams from Willows Racquet Club in North Andover spend their bye week on March 13?

On the tennis court.

Photo by Mike Norris Practice has indeed made perfect for Naina Pai (above) and the rest of the Willows’ boys and girls junior teams this year in North Shore League play.

“We actually had four kids that wanted to play and we didn’t have room for them,” said Mike Roberts, who coaches the boys varsity team at Willows and is one of three Junior coaches there, “which I guess is good and bad.”

But mostly good.

The youth tennis program is booming these days at Willows as Roberts, Igor Korik, and Rachel McKeeman boast a first-place girls team and a first-place boys team. Both programs won the North Shore championship last year, too.

“It’s a pretty solid program,” said Gary Barros, the tennis director at the Willows. “And when kids start leaving, new kids are ready to pop right in.”

“We have a very strong team this year,” said Roberts, “but our goal is not to win the North Shore League. Our goal is get better and get these guys on their high school teams.”

Perhaps the tool that is serving this coaching staff best is its souped-up, in-house program that stresses match play. During that bye week in March, junior players occupied the courts and played matches against one another from 2 to 9 p.m.

“Thirty eight kids played matches that night,” said Roberts, who estimates that about 70 families are involved in the Willows Junior program.

McKeeman acknowledges that match play goes a long way.

Photo by Mike Norris Harry Wood gets ready to rip a backhand at the Willows in North Andover. The club’s junior programs are dominating the North Shore League.

“A very long way,” she said. “First-time students get into a match and they’re very nervous. A [league] match sometimes isn’t the best place to start. During the in-house matches, as coaches we can walk out onto the court and offer advice or instructions.”

Roberts, Korik and McKeeman are no strangers. Robert and Korik have been one of the state’s top 4.5-level doubles teams for several years and Korik and McKeeman were once the top ranked mixed doubles team in New England.

The trio has shown the same chemistry on the coaching side of the sport.

“We try to work as a team,” McKeeman said. “Mike and Igor have a lot of great ideas and a lot of enthusiasm.”

Being at the top of the league standings isn’t new to the junior teams at Willows. Prior to the arrival of Roberts and Korik two years ago, the Willows was a fixture at the top of the North Shore League standings, although Roberts and Korik helped boost the overall numbers once they took over.

“We utilize all of the kids in the program,” said Roberts, a high school All-America player in Maine. “We’ve used more kids this year than ever before and [the success] is a testament to the kids. A lot of the kids have really improved. They’ve been putting their time in.”

McKeeman, who played tennis at Merrimack College down the road from the Willows before taking a job there after graduating, has been coaching the varsity girls team for the past five years. She has made a good impression, guiding the team to a first place finish in the standings and/or the league championship for the past three years.

While McKeeman is quick to praise the in-house program as a big boost to the competitiveness of the players, she has also been pleased with the continuity of the group.

“I have had a lot of the same students for a good amount of time,” she said. “Girls that started with me when they were seven years old are now 15 or 16 and they’re still playing for me. The core group has really stuck together.”

Among the key players this season for the Willows girls has been Erin Coughlan, a Pingree School student who plays singles at the 18s age group. Kelsey Chapman is one of the top doubles players for the 16s, while Rachael and Coli Downey are solid singles players at the 16 and 14 age groups, respectively.

This year’s boys team is packed with some of the top junior players in the USTA including Bjorn Merinder, Tom Russo, Josh Linton, Ben Manser and Sebastian and Valentin Boulas.

Taking a swing around the North Shore …

The North Shore League’s nine-month season is winding down and the 12 participating tennis clubs are having another competitive season.

Newburyport was enjoying a spot among the leaders in 11 different leagues as March come to a close. The club had a first-place team in the Men’s A1 Division, the Men’s B Division and the Mixed 8.5 league. Newburyport was also second in the Mixed 7.5 league and the Women’s A1 Upper and in the playoff hunt in the Men’s B, Working Women’s first and third divisions, the Women’s Serena league and the Junior Boys. Newburyport also has a second team vying for the top of the Women’s A1 Upper Division.

The Willows Tennis Club in North Andover had six first-place teams as the season started to wind down. Leading their respective divisions were the Mixed 7.5 team, both the Junior Boys and Girls and three women’s teams including the B1 Lower, the A1 Lower and the B1 Upper.

Willows also had a second-place Mixed 8.5 squad, a third-place squad in the Men’s A1 league and several other teams battling for the playoffs in the Women’s B1 Upper and Lower Divisions.

Bass River Tennis Club in Beverly had first-place teams in both the Working Women’s first and second division and was in contention for the top spot in the Men’s A, Women’s A Upper, Serena and Venus Divisions.

Bass River was also among the leaders in the Men’s B, Junior Girls, Junior Boys and Mixed 7.5 leagues.

The Boston Sports Clubs have representation from three locations; Lexington, Lynnfield and Andover.

Andover has been successful in the women’s leagues with a pair of playoff contenders in the Women’s A1 Lower Division and a solid team in the Venus league. Lexington’s Working Women 3 team was in third place while its A1 Lower team was fighting for a spot in the top four.

At Northeast Tennis Center in Middleton, the Women’s B1 Lower team was in the hunt for first place while six other teams were in the mix for the playoffs as well. Enjoy successful seasons at Northeast are the Men’s B1 team, the Mixed 7.5 squad, the Women’s A Upper and A1 Lower teams and two teams, Div. 1 and Div. 2, in the Working Women’s League.

Clubs in Woburn and Winchester are spread throughout the top of the standings.

Winchester teams were leading the Men’s B1 and the Women’s A Upper leagues and were sitting in second in both the Men’s A1 and Working Women’s 2 leagues.

Winchester was also vying for the top in the Women’s A1 Upper league, the Mixed 8.5 league, the Working Women’s 2 league and the Venus Division.

Woburn also had as many as 11 teams doing well in their respective leagues.

The Working Women’s 3 team was in first place while second-place squads were from the Junior Boys, the Men’s B and the Men’s B1 Divisions. Woburn’s Working Women 1 team was also in second.

Other top teams out of Woburn included its Junior Girls, another of its Working Women 3, a mixed 8.5, a Women’s B1 Lower, a Men’s A and a Men’s B1.

In Manchester, squads were on top of the Venus and Women’s A1 Upper Divisions while its Working Women’s 3 team was also battling for first place. Manchester has also enjoyed successful seasons from its Men’s A, Women’s A Upper and Serena squads.

Westford was in first place in the prestigious Men’s A Division while also holding a spot at the top of the Junior Girls and Women’s B1 Upper leagues. Westford also had playoffs contenders in the Men’s A1 and Serena Divisions.

Haverhill’s beautiful Cedardale Health and Fitness club has teams throughout the North Shore League, but its most successful has been in the Serena League, where that squad was comfortably in first place as the playoffs approached.

Doug Hastings, an avid 4.5 player, has covered tennis for the last decade for numerous publications including Tennis Magazine and will be covering both the North Shore Tennis League and the USTA summer leagues for North Shore Golf  & Tennis. E-mail him at dougahastings@gmail.com