Angel Martinez Coach Martinez has been at Grapevine High School since 1999. Click here to see a list of his accomplishments.
 3223 Mustang Drive
Grapevine, TX 76051
817/251-5210

angel.martinez@gcisd.net

 		 

Coach's Corner

November 5, 2009

I want to begin by giving thanks….to all of the parents that help in the concession stand, to those parents and players who come out and help clean up the tennis center on work days, to those parents that decorate the building and locker rooms on game days, to the parents who order, sort, distribute, reorder, redistribute uniforms and spirit wear, to the parents that came out and volunteered for various tasks during our "Lighting the Courts" ceremony, to the parents and relatives that come out and cheer for the team, to a former parent that keeps our landscaping and facility always looking pristine, to those parents that organized and handled our 11th Annual Serve-A-Thon fundraiser (a huge task!), to all of the businesses, parents, and relatives that donated to the Serve-A-Thon, and to all of those parents that are willing to help at “the drop of a hat!” As you can see, we have a lot to be thankful for.

The 2009 Fall season is over and without any reservation I believe all of us can call it a tremendous success. We ended the season 12-2, 7-0 in District 5-5A (District Champions), and Region I AAAAA Quarterfinalists. The JV team is undefeated with an overall record of 9-0 and 7-0 in district going into the District Tournament.  What is most important, is the fact that we graduated 14 Seniors  in 2008-2009…leaving us with 4 returning players from last year’s Team Tennis campaign.  The level of perseverance of this team is incredible…in the Keller match, the team was down 7-3 with 9 matches remaining.  The team came back and defeated Keller 10-9 and held true to our theme for the year…212°.  We gave one more degree of effort and it made a difference…one that carried through for the rest of the season.

 Looking forward, our team will prepare for the Spring (individual) Season.  Practices during school will be considerably shorter until January.  This is a great opportunity for our players to really improve their skills in private lessons and through Jr. Development programs.  If the fall season is won or lost in the summer, the individual season is won or lost in the winter. 

 When we return from the Thanksgiving break, we will have our Secret Santas on the team as well as our 11th Annual Adopt a Family service project. We try to brighten a Mustang Family that is going through a difficult time during the Holidays. We collect gift cards, toys, clothes, in general anything the family needs (or wants).  The level of participation in our service project in past years is the talk of the school. We have a reputation for being one of the most generous and giving groups…something that we are very, very proud of!

In closing, I just attended the District 5-5A coaches meeting last night where we voted for the all district team. I thought it was amazing to see the balance that our team had this fall. We had 7 first team All-District selections, 8 second team and 6 honorable mention.  Our team had every member of the team selected to the All-District team. What was interesting to me was that we did not have an overwhelming number of first team selections, nor did we have the male or female player of the year.  It just shows that the success this fall was truly a TEAM effort.  The old saying “United we Stand,  Divided we Fall” really proved to be true for our team!