TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Sports like football and basketball are easily the most popular high school sports, but the smaller sports like tennis are growing at a fast rate and giving Idaho’s high school athletes more opportunities.
Tennis isn’t the biggest spectator sport in Southern Idaho by a longshot, but the number of kids coming out for this sport each year is a lot higher than one may initially think, especially in the Magic Valley.
“It amazes me every year that we get at least 50 kids out to play and just really enjoy it and get into the sport,” said Canyon Ridge tennis coach Shana Hoge.
According to the Idaho High School Activities Association there are 45 coed tennis teams across the state for the 2024 season. Hoge also said that she believes the rise of pickleball in recent years has inspired more kids to try tennis, however that was not the case for Canyon Ridge senior Breanna Williams.
“It was definitely something new. I have cousins that played and they hyped it up a lot, they were like it is the funnest thing you can ever do. So I tried out my junior year and it was really fun so I came back for my senior,” said Williams.
Breanna’s brother Ethan was also inspired to try tennis from their cousins and the brother and sister duo now compete as a doubles team at most of their matches.
With singles it’s all by yourself, you have no one to help you or coordinate with you, you just do your thing. For doubles you have to coordinate with your teammate and you have to have the chemistry to figure things out and know where you’re supposed to be on the court so I think it’s a lot more strategy that goes with doubles,” said Ethan Williams.
The brother and sister duo are each in their second year of tennis, but this is their first year playing together. Some members of the team have been playing tennis their entire life and have years and years of experience built up and the difference between them and beginners can be staggering at first.
“It is so intimidating because I compare myself to them a lot and they’re just really good and you can tell that they’ve practiced a lot so I guess they’re just iconic at this point,” said Breanna Williams.
Even if you have never played tennis or don’t think you would be good, the team emphasizes that regardless of results being around friends and teammates is still a great time
“I would just go to the tryouts and see how it goes. It’s really fun once you get used to it. Like once you figure out how to hit the ball and do all that stuff then you can really have some fun and get some satisfaction from playing,” said Ethan Williams.
If the growth of tennis continues over the next couple of years at the same rate it has we could see it start spreading more into 1 and 2A schools, but for now we’ll have to love what we have.
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