Head Tennis Coach: Derek Felska
2020 Mauston Boys Tennis – Goals & Expectations
“All In”
Attendance Policy – Players will be expected to attend all practices or games even if there is inclement weather unless you are notified the practice / match is canceled. Excused absences will be at Coach’s discretion. Players who miss school for sickness cannot attend practice or play in matches that day per WIAA rules. Players that have unexcused absences will be under a 3 strikes policy. All players are strongly encouraged to schedule appointments outside of tennis practice and tennis season in general as well as are encouraged to get ACT and other college testing done PRIOR to the start of the season.
1st Strike – Will miss one varsity tennis match (they must attend the match but will not play and its not served until they do so).
2nd Strike – Will miss two varsity tennis matches (they must attend the matches but will not play and its not served until they do so).
3rd Strike – You are suspended for the rest of the season.
Tennis Practice (outside of Spring Break) will be from 3:35PM-5:30PM at Lion’s Park Courts, if there is inclement weather the team still may have practice indoors or in my classroom at MHS. Usually those kinds of practices will end before 5PM. Spring Break Practice will be from 10AM-Noon, Monday thru Friday of that week. If your athlete is in town during Spring Break they are expected to be at practice and any missed practices would count towards the 3 strikes policy.
Lettering Policy – Any player who has competed in at least 6 Varsity Matches and completes the season in good academic standing will earn a varsity letter. Any disciplinary infraction that violates a portion of the Co-Curricular Activities Code during the season will not be allowed to letter. In addition, if a player is ruled academically ineligible at anytime during the season. they will not letter.
Mauston Tennis Ethos:
I will always place the team first
I will be relentless
I will never quit or give up in a match
I will do whatever I can to make myself and my teammates better
Team Goals:
1. Advancing as many players as we can to Sectionals. For the first time in 2 years we did not advance a player to sectionals, so we’d like to do that anyway that we can.
2. Winning a Coulee Conference Championship (our conference is BRF, Viroqua, West Salem).
3. Earning team victories over old public school conference foes Reedsburg, and Baraboo.
Individual Goals:
1. Improve each day at practice, giving maximum effort all of the time. Paying attention to the small details that make us better.
2. To have at least a .500 record by season’s end.
3. Make an effort to practice outside of normal team workouts / practices to make a commitment to be a better person, student and athlete than I was when I started.
*Parent / Fan Etiquette (during a match)
During a match, and according to WIAA rules, parents and non-coaching adults are not to talk with players (both ours and our opponents) during play or even between games and or sets. While you certainly can cheer for your son, you are not to have a conversation or provide advice or assistance of any kind to the athlete. Only coaches are allowed to talk with the players once they begin playing (that includes warm ups). If you see parents / non-coaches talking to their athletes let the coach know and I will bring it up with their coach to deal with the situation. \
It is impolite to cheer for mistakes an opponent makes. You can certainly praise / cheer good shots your son hits after the point is concluded but you should not praise the mistakes of the opposing player. I realize that you may see parents of other teams cheering for mistakes, but please refrain from this behavior.
You will probably notice bad line calls throughout the match. Tennis is unique in that the players officiate themselves and shots that land on their side of the court. In most cases, bad line calls are not malicious or intentional. Even though you may want to complain to your athlete about such calls it is up to your athlete to initiate that conversation with their coach. I will instruct your athletes on how to handle questions regarding line calls. Do not confront the player(s) or the opposing coach, if you think something is intentional and malicious talk to the opposing coach and I will handle it.
Our fan / parent behavior at our matches has been excellent and I have not received any complaints from opposing coaches since I started coaching. But I thought this might be helpful for everyone to know what they can and should not do.
Practice: Practice will be from 3:35PM - 5:15-30-ish Monday through Friday unless notified otherwise. Captain’s Practice during Spring Break will be from 10AM-Noon-ish. Attendance at practice is mandatory if you wish to play in the nearest match in the future unless coach is notified prior to the absence. Acceptable excuses for an absence will be at the discretion of the coach. On rain days, we may or may not have practice; players will notified by the end of the school day if that is taking place.