Tigers rejuvenate tennis program

Just three years after Elsinore's boys tennis team was nearly eliminated due to a lack of participation, the program is thriving - thanks mostly to throngs of athletes from fall and winter sports finding their way to the game.

"It's just so fun," Erick Hickok said. "We don't have the intense conditioning that we have in wrestling or other sports, and it's just fun all the time, in practice and during matches."

The Tigers had over 45 kids come out for the sport this season, and nearly all of them are athletes from different sports, such as football, basketball, soccer and wrestling.

Hickok is a prime example. A month ago, he helped Elsinore's wrestling team to a Sunbelt League title grappling in the 119-pound weight category, as the Tigers advanced to CIF Southern Section dual meet playoffs. For the past three springs, Hickok has hung up his wrestling shoes and turned to the hard courts, where he has found a new passion.

"These kids just love it," head coach Rick Wolters said. "They are just great athletes. They love being competitive, and they love having fun. They can do both here in tennis, and I think that's the reason that more and more are coming out to play."

Wolters' attitude toward the program might also be a factor, as he takes a very recreational approach to the sport, which most kids seem welcome after an intense fall or winter program.

"I never get on them after a loss or anything - it is pretty relaxed," Wolters said. "Tennis is seen as a country club sport to a lot of people, so most of these kids have never really been exposed to it. But once they get the chance to go out there and play it, they see what it's really like, and they start to enjoy it."

One of the main reasons that Wolters treats the program casually is because he - like most of his players - is somewhat a novice to tennis.

Wolters is the assistant coach of the Elsinore boys basketball team, and admits that he knows much more about the hardwood than the hard courts. He took control over the tennis team three years ago, when it was on the verge of eliminating the program.

During a basketball trip to Hawaii, Wolters was informed by one of his players, who was also a member of the tennis team, that the school was planning to scrap the program because they didn't have a coach, and more so, they didn't have the participants.

"Pete Rettinger (Elsinore's head basketball coach) said no way are they canceling that program because of not having a coach," Wolters said. "(Rettinger) said that he and myself would coach, and I was kind of like, 'OK,' at the time, but it really worked out."

Elsinore has a no-cut policy in tennis, but only the top 18 players see action during the matches. Walters also tries to make the team flexible towards the schedule of the athletes who are involved with their other sports' offseason workout programs.


