Fountain Central boys tennis has won three straight IHSAA sectional titles, and in the fall will return six of seven starters.
Last week the IHSAA announced that school athletic facilities must stay closed through the end of June. That means no organized practice, conditionings, or tennis camps.
While many coaches of teams with high expectations might be worried, longtime Mustangs coach Chris Webb isn’t.
“It’s not hard to motivate these kids,” he said. “That won’t determine whether these kids succeed or not. I sent all my guys a message in March saying that the spring seasons looked doubtful, and that the quest for four sectionals starts now. And that’s all I really have to say to that group.”
Carson Eberly, Cody Linville, Brent Myers, Jacob Keeling, CJ Yager, and Sawyer Keeling will all return in 2020 for their senior seasons.
Webb along with his assistant Dave Kight, who is also the varsity girls tennis coach, have built the Fountain Central tennis program from the ground up, claiming 11 combined sectional titles since 2010. Webb says that will be the most challenging part of a partially lost summer.
Most years Fountain Central hosts junior high and elementary tennis camps during June, but it will likely look differently this year.
“Getting those camps in will be a little less structure than normal,” Webb said.
He said it’s a tough situation, but he believes the right calls are being made.
“It’s a challenge, but at the same it’s a point of time where humanity came before sports and that’s the right call,” he said. “It’s sad, but there is a bigger picture and puts wins and losses in the proper prospective.”
Fountain Central athletic director Jason Good said that most coaches will start summer workouts on July 6, but some will take advantage of the annual moratorium week that falls during the week of July 4 being waived by the IHSAA and start on July 1.
He said they will start working this week on a plan to get as much work in during the month of July as possible.
“We will try to get all coaches a chance to work with their athletes, but as we get closer to August, fall sports will take priority,” he said. “It will be a challenge to communicate effectively to get as much done as possible during July.”
