Westlake Girls’ Tennis 2015/2016 Welcome to Westlake “Thunder” tennis! We are so happy to have you with us this year. We expect to have a fantastic season. You will have a lot of fun, form great friendships, and develop your tennis skills as you participate in the tennis program. Here are the policies of which you need to be aware. Required Registration and Documentation All tennis players will be required to register through the “Register My Athlete” on-line program. This can be done at http://registermyathlete.com. Once you get to the home page, click on the “School Login” button at the top right of the page. Next, select “Utah” as the state and then “Westlake High School”. This will take you to the login screen where you can create an account and sign into the program. All required documents are on the Register My Athlete website and can also be located at the bottom of the Westlake High School Athletics website page. You will need to have the Physical and Parent Consent Form, Tryout Checklist, and External Publications & Website Release Form completed before the first day of tryouts. Anyone not having these documents completed and turned into the Athletics Office by the first day of tryouts will not be able to play until these documents are turned in. Tryouts Tryouts will start on Monday, August 3, 2015. Tryouts will consist of a combination of match play and drilling. Players will be seeded according to their records in match play and observed performance. The top 7 players will play varsity (three singles players and two doubles teams). The next 7 will play Junior Varsity. Remaining players will be alternates. They will play in matches if team members are missing and when the other teams have alternates or players who are willing to play a second match. I may shuffle the order around during the season based on performance. No-Cut Program We run a no-cut program at Westlake. Everyone who comes out for the team makes the team. The tryout portion of the season is used to seed players on our “Challenge Ladder”. We use the challenge ladder to encourage match play and competition throughout the season. Practice Practice will be held every school day from 2:30 – 5:00 pm (Freshmen attending the middle schools are expected to get to practice as soon as possible after they are dismissed from school). Practice is mandatory. If you miss practice you will not be able to play in matches. If you have an extenuating circumstance and you have to miss practice, contact Coach Johnson ahead of time. You are expected to be on time to all practices. Challenging We use a “Challenge Ladder” for all challenge matches. You will have regular (almost daily) challenge matches to ensure players have a fair opportunity to play in the position they earn/deserve. Just because you start off as a lower seed on the ladder doesn’t mean you’ll end up there for the whole season. It is my experience that many players improve a lot as the season goes on. Matches Out match play schedule will begin on Tuesday, August 11, 2015. A copy of our schedule is attached to this document. We play each team in the region twice during the regular season, and all matches will begin at 3:00 unless our travel schedule dictates otherwise. We may also have a few non-region matches prior to the start of our regular region schedule. Immediately following the regular season we will have the regional tournament followed the next week by the state tournament. Please be aware that you must travel to all away matches with the team--if you are not on the bus, you cannot play in a match. Also, we are a team and just like in football, basketball, etc. you are required to stay at all matches until their completion—you never see a basketball player get up and leave if they are no longer playing! Sportsmanship The tennis team at Westlake is known for their good sportsmanship and it’s my goal to continue this tradition. We don’t have line judges in high school tennis, so you are responsible for calling your own lines. Be honest when you are calling lines. If you do not see clearly whether the ball is in or out, play it as if it is in. Be respectful of your opponents, coaches and teammates. Those who fail to be good sports will not play in matches. Academics You are a student first and an athlete second. You will not play if you fail to meet minimum academic eligibility requirements. The UHSAA requires that you maintain a 2.0 GPA with no more than one failing grade (F, I, NC). You also cannot play if you do not adhere to the school’s attendance policy. Your grades will be checked regularly. Cost We’re continually working on keep costs low and making being on the tennis team as affordable as possible. The required fees are $200; $100 for the team uniform (which you keep) and $100 for the school’s participation fee (this fee covers buses, balls for matches, etc.). Anything beyond that is completely optional. Once again, we look forward to a fabulous tennis season at Westlake and having YOU on the team! Contact Information Head Coach: Carl Johnson Email: carl@saratogaspringstennis.com HP: (801)766-5084 Cell: (801)368-3927 Westlake Thunder Girls’ Tennis 2015/2016 Match Schedule Tuesday, August 11 – Pleasant Grove Thursday, August 13 – @ Lehi Tuesday, August 18 - Herriman Thursday, August 20 - Bye Tuesday, August 25 – @ American Fork Thursday, August 27 – Lone Peak Tuesday, September 1 - Lehi Thursday, September 3 - @ Pleaseant Grove Tuesday, September 8 - Bye Thursday, September 10 - @ Riverton Tuesday, September 15 - @ Herriman Thursday, September 17 – American Fork Tuesday, September 22 - Riverton Thursday, September 24 - @ Lone Peak All matches begin at 3:00 pm. Home matches are in bold. Other Important Dates - Regional Seeding Meeting, Friday, September 25, American Fork High School @ 5:00 pm - JV Region IV Tournament, Saturday, September 26, Lone Peak High School @ 9:00 am - Varsity Regional IV Tournament, Tuesday & Wednesday, September 29 & 30, American Fork High School @ 10:00 am - Girls 5A State Tennis Tournament – Wednesday & Saturday, October 7 & 10, Liberty Park, Salt Lake City Go Thunder Tennis!