Wingin’ It with Andrew & Cullen Juge: Covenant Tennis

This week on Wingin’ It, we recap winter sports, preview upcoming spring events, and sit down with Andrew and Cullen Juge to talk all things Covenant tennis and the impact of the new on-campus courts.

Stay Connected
Thanks for listening to Wingin’ It. Follow us on social at @winginitcovenant and keep up with The Covenant School at @thecovenantschoolva. New episodes drop every other Wednesday, so tune in and join us as we wing it together!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hey everyone, this is Callie. This is Ashley.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

And this is Brady. And welcome to Wingin It, the Covenant School podcast. Hello everyone. Welcome back to our next episode of Wingin' It. Uh so so thankful to be back uh recording, be back uh in studio. I'm here with Ashley. Um Callie will be joining us momentarily. Uh she is at lunch duty. So she's watching our lovely students at lunch. So she'll be here in a second. You'll hear her uh pick up her mic and join us momentarily.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

But feels weird without her.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

So weird. Yeah. This big Cali-shaped hole in the studio. We love you, Callie. We love you, Cali. You're the best. She will be joining us momentarily, as will uh Andrew and Colin Juge. Really excited to hear uh from them about how our tennis team is going. Andrew is the head boys tennis coach, uh, and Colin is our number one on the boys uh singles team. So really excited to hear from them about uh all things Covenant tennis. Um on a similar note, Ashley, I'm gonna kick it over to you. We wrapped up winter sports here at Covenant, and we just started Spring Sports. I did.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Yeah, it's been a bit of a crazy transition, but a fun one. Um a lot of people probably know spring is fast and furious. We're what two months away from graduation, two and a half, and so it's a lot of trying to figure out the puzzle piece of cramming in spring games within two and a half months with spring break and some teacher work days in there as well. Um, but it's a fun puzzle. And I know the last week or so just going outside when it was 85 degrees and not snowing like it currently is, it was fun seeing just all the teams practicing and playing. Um, so yeah, we're excited for the spring. I think for Damon and I, it's been an interesting transition having coached in the winter, and a lot of our days, you know, ended at 3 30. We went straight to practice um or two games and then you know, went home, did it all again the next day. And so now it's been kind of a slower pace, I would say, even though the spring is a lot. Um so yeah, just want to shout out all of our winter teams, um, especially swimming, our boys swimming team, like I said on the last episode, one their four in a row. Yeah, four in a row, four state championships. Um, and the all-state teams are starting to come out for all the different sports. Um for girls basketball specifically, Kerrigan Pointexter and Cece Corby were both on the All-State team. And then for boys swimming, we had Will Charlton, Taylor Starr, Owen Khaladi, and Jack Byrne were all on the all-state team. So congrats to those lovely students.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

And and just for a second, I'll I want to sing your praises and Damon's praises on the girls' basketball team because you're too humble to talk about yourself. But like to see the joy that y'all played with this year was so fun. Um, and to just shout out your players, like, didn't Kerrigan and Kate Wolf both break the single season assist record this year? And then CC Corby finished what, like 20th in the nation and three pointers made. So yeah. Um just such a fun brand of basketball that y'all play, and it really shows on the the joy on their faces. So I wanted to give you your praises.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Well, thank you, Brady. I'm blushing over here. No, um, but seriously, it was such a fun season, and I think it reminded me of why I came to Covenant and why I took this job um and why I decided to start coaching. I just feel like our kids are so special, and I think I've seen it for myself now of there's just like a total lack of selfishness on the teams because everyone wants their teammates to succeed, and they don't care what that looks like. I mean, yes, you know, we shouted out certain players here and there for breaking records, and it was definitely a record-breaking season from an individual standpoint, but I think on a broader scale, um, that led to team success because no one cared who got the credit. And statistically speaking, we looked this up the other day. We it was probably the best Covenant Girls basketball team in history for a lot of reasons. I mean, I think it was just every night we went out there and we knew, okay, we might not have the strongest five individual players, but cohesively as a unit, I felt like we had the stronger five. Um, and so that was just really special to be a part of. And um yeah, just special to find that out as well. Of you know, if you really dive deep into the statistics, like it's pretty cool. Um, so yeah, it's been a fun, fun winter, but excited to transition to spring and all the fun things that come with that and um hoping the weather gets better.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

But yes, we love spring and it like equal love to winter sports teams as well. But I feel like there's really a like vibrancy that comes with spring sports, like just seeing everyone on our athletic fields outside, like running around after school, um, brings a big smile to my face. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Yeah, you guys will hear a little bit about this when we interview Andrew and Colin. But I think, especially now having the tennis courts on campus, I mean you walk outside and you know, there's lacrosse and soccer and baseball, track and field tennis, like it's all happening on campus, and that's what makes the spring season super unique, is it's the one season where everything is outside. Yeah. Um, which brings its challenges, but I think at the same time it is fun, and I think the setup of our campus makes it enjoyable for kids as well and for families when they drive in and see how vibrant campus is.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

So and joining us back from lunch duty is Callie.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

I felt like I had to fill in your woo. It's a really glamorous life over here.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Oh yeah, how was it?

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Lunch duty. Oh, you know, the cafeteria was popping.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

I bet because it's sewing outside.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

It's sewing, it's take it away day. So sandwiches abound. It was it was popping in there. Um happy to be back though. Yeah. So a few things. First of all, I know we talked about this last episode, but it wasn't a real recap because we talked about it before the actual showing. But Oklahoma happened, you guys. And I don't know if you guys saw it. And it's set, okay. Justice for myself, because for some reason my brain wasn't working when I asked them that question.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

I'm just giving you a hard time.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

And I meant like, is it in a is it in like a big city? Is it in like a little town or like, you know, you know what I mean? It's fine. It was it was a dumb question. It happened in Oklahoma. It was incredible. Like I was blown away. I didn't even go to a real show. I went to the Wednesday dress rehearsal, and which is a real show, but it's it was like their first run through. They had run through, they had never done full show before, and I was blown away. Like everything was so excellent. The singing was excellent, the acting was excellent, the set was excellent, the costumes, like everything, the lighting, the the pit was phenomenal. And I don't know, I just I was in shows growing up. Like I did a few musicals in high school, and it was always so fun, and I loved it. Um yeah, and it was it was it was amazing. Um uh I lost my train of thought. What was I gonna say about it? Oh, oh, oh. I've seen the last five shows here. So I've I've seen every single one. So the last four shows, sorry, excuse me. And this one I can say without a doubt was like the most impressive. Oh, great. So anyway, good job. Great job, guys. Arts department, Chris Campanelli, Ethan Mitchell, Dan Warren, all the whole cast. Like I was it was incredible. So if you didn't see it, sorry. Big bummer. You missed out, you really did. Um, so just wanted to celebrate them and just congratulate them on such a job well done. Um, other things happening in my neck of the woods. Uh, Powderbuff is March 28th, which will be super fun. That's our boys' volleyball tournament for charity. All funds raised at that event um go toward the Haven. And it's always been really fun. It's been going on for two years now and love watching the boys play volleyball. So yeah, come out to that. It's gonna be um, as I said, March 28th from four to six. There is a five dollar entry fee, and every single all of that money will go straight to the Haven. So um it's for charity and it's a great cause, and it's just really fun to see boys show up and go crazy playing volleyball. Um honestly, like that's kind of it for outward-facing things that I'm overseeing. We are going to have a house Easter egg hunt in two weeks. We did it last year, it was super random and last minute. Um and Virginia Keza, she's current president of Temp last year. This was like her brainchild. She's like, we want to have an Easter egg home. Former guest. Yeah, former guest. Yeah. And I was like, uh, okay. And so we did it, and it was super fun. So we're gonna do it again. And then we're also having an upper school house talent show on April 17th. That's gonna be during the school day. All of these things will be during the school day. Unfortunately, only students are invited, but that will also be really fun. So what are you laughing at over there?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Uh nothing. Okay, don't worry about it. Chuckling in the corner. I'll tell you later.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Um yeah, I feel like that's all I have. It's crazy. We're like coming up on the end of the year, like commencement is coming up, trips, class trips are coming. Like, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Spring break coming up.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

I know.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Um speaking of spring break, the week before spring break, we have senior thesis week. So um this was started, I think, the year after I graduated, but it's such a cool tradition. Um, seniors spend, I believe, this semester, not the whole year. Is it's uh it's just this semester. No, it's all it's all year.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

It starts junior year.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Incredible. Yeah, so they start junior year um and they prep a senior thesis. So they write this really long research paper and present uh their argument and their um project to uh a panel of judges and to a class. Um and it's so impressive. I remember Ashley and I uh sat on a panel last year for uh Will Wolf, who graduated last year. I watched Jack Liebing talk about um, you know, the beauty of uh indie car racing and indie car designs. So uh some of this is so cool. So um shout out to our seniors who are working really hard on that. Uh those theses uh will be presented um the week of March 30th. So really cool. All right, we have some fun advancement related events happening too. So as I talked about last time, uh John Coleman and I ended up going up to DC, uh meeting some of our uh DC-based alumni up there um just for a fun reception. Um and that was really great. I really enjoyed connecting with um some fellow class of 2013 members, and it was a lot of fun um just going to a different area and seeing our alumni thrive um post Covenant and hearing uh what they're up to. Um we're doing actually a similar one. Uh at the time of this recording, it is tomorrow. It is Friday, March 13th. Uh, we will be in Richmond. So I'll be excited to Friday the 13th. Bump bum bump. Um I'll be excited to report back about how that is. Um yeah, really excited to connect with our Richmond alumni. What was just going on right there?

SPEAKER_03 11:38

I accidentally bummed Ashley's foot and then I was like, ooh. And that's sorry. I didn't put you in that.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

I love it. I love it. This better stay in. Okay. Um and then we're having an all-alumni reunion. Saturday, May 30th. That is when that will be. Please come. We really want to see you back uh on the Hickory campus. Bring your family. Um, it'll be great. We'll share more details about that soon as we um, you know, create them. Um create the details. You know.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

You're planning. You're in the planning period. Yeah, you're it's gonna be so fun.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

It's gonna be so fun. Can't wait. Um, and then something that uh is such a fun day every year is Grandparents' Day is coming up. Friday, May 1st. Um, save the dates were just sent out. So if you are a lower school family, um hopefully you receive that. But um, yeah, just get that on the radar. It's like I don't know if y'all have attended a grandparents' day or if you had it at your elementary schools, but um it's so fun. I mean, Ashley, you went to the lower school, so you probably experienced a grandparents' day um from the students. I sure have.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

But it was a blast. It's so fun.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

It's so fun. So um, yeah, really looking forward to seeing all uh lower school grandparents Friday, May 1st. Can't wait.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Yay! Okay, it's time for the faculty as a school. This is a really special one, and honestly, they deserve all the celebration in the whole entire world. Um, these are two different entries by two different people, but they are celebrating the same people, Mr. Greg Quarter, and our whole facilities team at the Hickory campus and the Birdwood campus. I mean, just gonna read two different submissions that were given to us. The first one, this is from a while ago, um, from the infamous ice storm days back in was that January, February, January. Oh, what a what a rough time. Okay, this one says while everyone was playing in the snow or toasty by the fire, these guys are working hard and freezing temperatures to plow and shovel almost impossible to get through ice. It was impossible. Like there was no almost about it. Like it was just actually impossible. Um, they got no days off, and I'm really grateful for them. Uh, obviously that's true. The second one says as director of facilities, Greg Porter has one of the toughest jobs on campus and often one of the most unnoticed and overlooked jobs. Through his leadership and experience, Mr. Porter guides the facilities team in otherwise tumultuous and chaotic seasons of the Covenant School's annual events. Without his direction and cool as a cucumber demeanor, Covenant would have been caught in a bad way in so many inclement weather cases or last-minute events. Truly unreplaceable. This could not ring more true. Also, cool as a cucumber.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Greg is absolutely cool as a cucumber.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Um, he is Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales. That is a big part of my life right now, if you're wondering, Veggie Tales. Um we listen to a lot of Veggie Tales on Alexa. Yeah. Um, it's one of James's favorite. Anyway, I mean, like, we could go on and on about how amazing Greg Porter is, and all of this is true. He's helped me out on several occasions. I mean, that man does everything. Like, he works with y'all, he works with you, he works with me for like prom and snowball, and just I don't know. We just love him dearly. We love you, Greg.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

We love you, Greg. I've known Greg since I was 10 years old. Uh he and his son Matthew were on uh he was on my little league team. So I've known Greg since then. So it's so fun now being colleagues with Matthew's dad. Yeah. Like well. Yeah. Um, but Greg is the uh like humblest, uh kind-hearted, uh hardest working um person I've met. So we're so and the whole team, the whole facility.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

I mean, they just put a smile on my face when I walk past them.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Yeah, very best. We have an ongoing joke in athletics that whatever Ashley wants, Ashley gets. I mean, as it should be. And that all starts with Greg. We you know, pretend to fight in the hallway by us for something, and then he's like, Right, whatever Ashley wants, Ashley gets.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Wow, you're lucky. He he he doesn't say nice things about me. He runs away from me. Really? Yeah, Brady witnessed it today. He tried to hide in the workroom and was like, excuse you, where do you think you're going? Anyway.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Anyway, we love you. Thanks, team.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

We love you, Greg, and the whole facilities team.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

All right, joining us in studio um are two of my favorite people. We have director of advancement, Andrew Juge, and Cullen Juge, Class of 2028. Is that correct? Yeah, there we go. Um so Andrew is uh, in addition to being our director of advancement, also our head boys tennis coach. And Cullen is the uh number one on the boys tennis team. So thanks so much for joining us, guys. Really excited that y'all are here. Um would love to just get a brief background. Obviously, uh, for those of you that don't that don't know, Andrew is uh my boss, my colleague. It's kind of changed a couple times, so um, but we work very closely in advancement here. So um, but would love to hear just how it's been since you started in July. And um, yeah, share whatever you like and call on the same since you've uh started at Covenant, how that experience has been.

SPEAKER_06 17:04

All right, Colin, you want to go first? Sure, I'll go first. Um I started a Covenant in fifth grade, so I guess that was five years ago now. Um I came during COVID. I was at uh public school and moved to Covenant, and um loved it ever since. Uh got a great group of friends, loved the school, loved the classes, and having a lot of fun here. Brady, you're gonna have to remind me of the question again.

SPEAKER_05 17:30

Sorry, I've already lost track of it. When you started, how you started, how the experience has been. How'd you get here? Yeah, yeah. So uh yes, COVID got us here. Um at the time I remember both kids were in the public school system, and we were happy, honestly. Uh, but we had uh good friends, our dear friends, Matt and Julia Barrett, uh, and they spoke very, very highly of Covenant at the time, and we went way back with them. And so uh that was kind of a thing that interested us about Covenant, and we applied. We were very fortunate to get accepted, and uh the story started there for us. So uh very quickly into starting, uh I also knew Meredith McClellan pretty well, who is a teacher at the lower school. And she has a background in tennis as well, and pretty much right out of the gate, she knew I was a tennis player, and she said, Hey, we could really use your help in coaching. So I kind of got into coaching tennis at Covenant almost immediately when the kids started, and so that was kind of my entry and foray into the Covenant community.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

That's awesome. So before we get into tennis, because obviously it's tennis season, uh, would just love to hear, as Brady said, Andrew, you are the director of advancement. Tell us how that's been going because you started in the summer, um, and you guys have been a great team. Anyone who sees you knows that you're best buds. Um would just love to hear that was like met in like a friendly, like besties, an endearing way. They are, they're besties. Ashley's laughing at me. Um we would just love to hear how advancement is going, what's happening right now, what you got coming up. Tell us all the things.

SPEAKER_05 19:13

Yeah, there's a lot of things I can't tell you. Oh, oh, excuse me. I'm just kidding. No, but uh no, it it's been uh it's been really great. Um, it's been really special. So I started in June. This is my fifth year as the tennis coach, but as far as advancement is concerned, uh this started in June for me. And one of the things that we've really tried to make a concerted effort at uh right out of the gate is meeting with alumni, meeting with parents, meeting with families, uh, meeting with grandparents, and really just engaging in with a community. Yeah. And it's been amazing to just hear so many different perspectives, but also just feeling just how special this place is and how much it means to so many different people. Yeah. And they all have different reasons, uh, which is really cool to see. So yeah, you know, I I think it's been uh really eye-opening. And Brad Baggett, who I love working for, he's the best boss I've ever had.

SPEAKER_04 20:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 20:09

Um, he told me, I think on one of the first days I started working here that he said something like to along the lines of, I have a feeling you're gonna love Covenant even more being on the inside than you did on the outside. And I would say that's absolutely true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

So that's a really bold claim because usually when the curtain is pulled, it's like, oh, yes, what you got going back there?

SPEAKER_05 20:31

And he said it with so much confidence. Um I can be a cynic at times. Yeah. So I heard him say that and I thought to myself, all right, we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

But it was true. You've been proved wrong.

SPEAKER_05 20:41

I've been proven wrong.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

He passed away. Yeah. Shout out to Brad. Yeah. Our first guest. Yeah. Ever.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

The first.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

The wings was oh yeah, he was the first.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Food line and its supporters.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Big Food Lion supporter as well. And Food Lion.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Shout out to Food Lion. Um, kind of along those same lines, what do you feel like has been the biggest challenge since starting in your role here?

SPEAKER_05 21:01

Um, just getting acclimated, I would say. Um, I think it's really important for someone in my position to understand every aspect of the school. And so immersing myself in the classrooms, getting to know the teachers. I kind of had a head start being the tennis coach. So that was really helpful in knowing a lot of at least the tennis families, uh, knowing a lot of the athletic department and having some relationships there. So that allowed me to hit the ground running a little bit. Um, and obviously being a parent and uh knowing a lot of Colin's classmates and my daughter Lily Kate's classmates uh and their families, that helped a lot. But yeah, I would say immersing myself into the community in a more holistic way. Um I am an extrovert by nature and I do that naturally. So I would say it's been challenging. Yeah, yeah. I know that comes as a big surprise to you, actually. Um, but no, I I think that's been the biggest challenge of trying to. Do that and accelerate that process. Um, but it's also been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

That's awesome. Um, something that I'm really passionate about because it ties into athletics and also advancement is our new tennis courts. So I guess we'll kind of like swarm into tennis with that segue. Um but would you just love to hear more about the tennis courts, what went into that project. I know a lot of it happened before both of you guys stepped into your roles. Um but just how this all came about, the impact it's had on the tennis team, but also I would say the Greater Covenant community and just our campus in general. Um so yeah, just love to hear more.

SPEAKER_05 22:37

Oh, I mean, how much time do we have? I feel like I could talk about this for hours. Um yeah, it's really special, it's really cool. Uh there were rumblings of this being a possibility really when I first started five years ago. So there had been chatter about it, and the projected timeline at the time was, yeah, maybe two to three years. Uh and it took five, right? So uh I won't say frustrated is the right word, but there were definitely moments where like, all right, when is this coming? Hopefully sooner than later. But yeah, I I would say that now that we've experienced it, obviously it's amazing to not have to worry about buses, right? Not not to have yep, yep, uh not to have to worry about the logistics of getting there and to be kind of banished to a separate side of town on public courts that have tons of cracks. And so the facilities you go from, Brady hears me say this line all the time. I feel like we've gone from a two and a half out of ten to a nine and a half out of ten overnight. Uh so that difference has been remarkable. Um, but I would say the biggest challenge that we faced with tennis prior to this season was for lack of a better way of framing it, it the vibes were not always great because there are so many people that are passionate about their court time. And when you're at a public facility and you have people that want to play either pickleball or tennis and they're competing with you for court time, uh, they get upset really easily. And you know, you try to navigate those situations as diplomatically. Yeah, I w I'm representing the school, so I want to come across as positive and kind, especially in these situations. But a lot of times you have friction and our students, our players were exposed to that a little bit. And so to have our own place that we can call home where we don't feel like there's a tug of war with the community, um, that alone is a big relief to me. Um, and it just so happens that the facility was built in a beautiful way. Um, it's it's it's tremendous. So I can't say enough things about how happy we are, and it's it's a total game changer for Covenant tennis. Um if you have anything to add, Colin.

SPEAKER_06 24:51

Yeah, I mean, totally agree. It's absolutely it's like such a game changer for home matches to actually be playing at your school and having people be able to walk up to the courts and support. We haven't had a home match yet. I think first one's next week, right? So that'll be fun. Um hope we can get some turnout, but I mean it's just such an upgrade from Penn Park, Tonsler Park, just to be able to walk up to the courts and not take a bus or have my teammate drive me. And I mean, also just like the playing of the courts, like how nice they are compared to these other places I've played with the Covenant tennis team. It's safe to say it's by far the best courts I've played on with this team. So I love them.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

So exciting.

SPEAKER_05 25:34

Yeah, the last thing I'll add is just having fans, right? Yeah, each teachers, students can just walk over and check out what we're up to. Uh our fan base was basically limited to three or four parents and John Colemas. That was usually at our home matches. That was uh what we got to enjoy. So yeah, brave new world.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Yeah, I mean, I think from an athletic department standpoint, like it just livens up the campus.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

I mean, totally.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

We've gotten so many more teams here. I mean, we started track and field, they practice here in the spring, and so on any given day. I was actually having a conversation this morning, and we can have like five different games going on, yeah, matches between tennis and baseball and lacrosse, soccer, um, boys and girls across. And so I think that it's just it's just really cool for us to be able to support all those different teams. Um, I think the next step is getting a golf course and a swim pool, and we'll be yeah, we'll be all set.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

So if you guys can hop on that, that would be a great gym. Yeah, we're working on it. Yeah. Um and just like these, like, I know we're all biased here, but like the courts are objectively beautiful. Yeah. Like when you drive in and you see them up there, it just makes such a statement. Um, our campus already was beautiful and our facilities are already top-notch, but to really see that just shows the investment that we're making in athletics, that we're making in the tennis program, that we're making um on this campus for our student life. Like uh, it just brings me a huge smile on my face, and I didn't even play tennis. So I actually have a terrible tennis swing as Andrew's seen, because I have to undo all my baseball habits. Um, but I'm working on it. Um but yeah, not about this interview, it's not about me at all. Um, so I would love to hear, Colin. I'll ask you, um, give us a rundown. I know peeling back the curtain a little bit, it is uh Thursday, March 12th. It's pouring rain outside. And it's gonna snow. And it's gonna snow, apparently. Andrew's waiting on a text any minute that might uh cancel their match today. But I would love, I'll go Colin and then Andrew if you want to chime in anything too. We'd love to hear a scouting report of what the latter would have been today. Uh just give us the lowdown on all your teammates and their strengths, what you've seen uh from your teammates.

SPEAKER_06 27:45

All right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

I try tread lightly here, Colin.

SPEAKER_06 27:48

All right, I will. I mean, I'm excited for the season. I think we got a solid lineup, and there's so much competition in different areas of the lineup, and I feel like every single match it's gonna change. And there's never gonna be the same lineup for like two weeks at a time. Because I feel like everybody's just so solid and can compete so well. So right now, I'm at one. Then at two, we got Holden Pritchard. Okay, great forehand, by the way. If he's if he's listening to a massive forehand.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Has he always played tennis?

SPEAKER_06 28:19

He has, yeah, since sixth grade down six. Okay, I didn't know that. He's been playing for a while. Um played a great match against Almarl, too, so I'm excited for his season. Um at three, we have Reed Verbrugge. Um, super solid, doesn't miss. Great three. He's my doubles partner too, so I'm excited for that going forward. Playing one double with him. Um at four, we got Benjamin Rapp now, right? He just moved up to four. Um, and last last match against Al Marley was out of the lineup, and now he's already up to four. Wow. So it shows you how quick things can change. Um, and yeah, he's also a dude that's just gonna make balls, and he's so tough to play because he's never gonna give points away. And then at five, it's it's Stuart.

SPEAKER_05 29:04

Uh as of today, yes.

SPEAKER_06 29:05

Okay, as of today, Stuart Sheehan's five. Um and that kid, he brings a lot of energy, and I I kind of love it, honestly. He's brings a lot of personality to the tennis team, great player, too. Um, great kick serve. And at six, it's Christian Kirichetti. Yeah. I think you had those backwards, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:24

Five five is Christian, six is Stuart. Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:27

Okay. Well, I I might be wrong. I might be the coach. I I guess I guess coach knows. But um Christian, also just such a positive vibe to the tennis team. I really like love everybody on our team this year. It's so much positivity. Um, a lot of funny things are said, and um I'm excited for bus rides. We haven't had a long bus ride yet, but I'm definitely gonna be excited for that. But also, like, especially five through eight right now, like they switch every challenge match they play. They are they're always moving up and down, in the lineup, out of the lineup. Um, that's Liam Oaks and Owen Barrett, too. They were both in the lineup against Almar on Monday, and now it's switched just like that. Like within two days, the lineup's fully flipped. So it's a lot going on. Every practice.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

Yes. Yeah, it's it's very competitive, as Colin said, and uh, but that's good, right? We're making each other better, and we come to practice every day, and that's what it's all about. Um, yeah, for those of you that don't know tennis or that are listening and are wondering what are these guys talking about?

SPEAKER_03 30:33

I was just about to ask you that. Explain it to me like I've never five, yes. Because I never have.

SPEAKER_05 30:38

So basically the top six play.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 30:40

And I would we we have a roster of nine people. Um Luca Perone is another one that I'm really he's a younger player on our team. He's new to the team, but I'm super excited about him. He's got a ton of potential. Um, but yeah, so nine players, and as Colin said, really that five through nine zone is hyper competitive, and so the top six play. So you've got kids on the outside looking in when they're at seven or eight and they're looking to move up to get to that sixth spot. That's kind of the spot that everyone's gunning for. So um, yeah, it's been competitive. We have a great group, it's a high character uh group of kids, and that's what keeps me coming back. I think this for me this started as a love for tennis, and that was my background, and so uh it really started with that a passion for the sport. But every year I become more invested in the personalities and the people.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 31:33

And uh right now we have no seniors, so this is kind of exciting. We have a young team, and uh, we're kind of looking at this as a two to three year deal where hopefully uh we can continue to grow and improve.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, I want to hear more about what it's like to have your dad coach you and vice versa.

SPEAKER_06 31:52

I mean, yeah, it's not actually I feel like he could be a lot harder on me considering he's my dad. It's definitely I feel like he's a little bit hard on me because he knows like how I how well I can play, and he also he knows like how much I'm practicing outside of uh the actual covenant season. So I mean it's definitely some pressure every practice because I know I can't slack off, but also I mean I wouldn't do that for any coach. Right. It's also really nice. I mean, he just can drive me home after practice. I don't really have to I don't have to all he's good for it's a to worry about getting picked up to later. Also, he's he's a great coach to have. Like he's he knows kind of what I'm thinking and he knows my game style so well that whenever I'm playing matches and he comes up to me, I know he's gonna have the right thing to say because he probably knows what I'm thinking, honestly. And definitely like mentally, whenever I'm letting things get to me, he's very helpful. He knows how to calm me down and just tell me what to do to win the match, and also he's just a great coach. I mean, there's always some glazing heaven. A lot of glazing going on in I'm glazing him right now.

SPEAKER_03 33:04

No, it's not it's sweet, it's sweet to hear because there's a lot of instances where parent coaching their child can go wrong, and so that's it could um I feel like I don't he doesn't treat me like just like his son.

SPEAKER_06 33:17

I'm kind of also just another player on the team, which I like. Yeah, because I don't want there to be any like either favoritism or non-favoritism because I'm his son. I feel like it's just kind of equal.

SPEAKER_03 33:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 33:30

I think it would be really tough if he was in that five, six, seven zone, you know, where then it's like people could call you out for favoritism. So I'm I'm I'm grateful that he's up this level to where uh you know we don't have to stress about that as much. But no, I I think it's a challenge when you coach your son. Yeah, um, and I think it's hard for him, and it's hard for us both to navigate that. Um, you know, I think early on, so I I started as the JV coach when he was in sixth grade, then I switched to J V or sorry, to varsity for his seventh grade year. So we had a year where we didn't work together, and then he came up for varsity in uh eighth grade. So this is year three for us together again on varsity. And I will say that in sixth grade, there were probably some moments where Colin was maybe expecting preferential treatment and or but I think over the years uh we we've kind of settled into I got a I got a look from Colin when you said that.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:28

But no, I I think over the years we've kind of learned our footing and just I think he's got a much better understanding now of okay, I'm being held to the same standard as everyone else, and we kind of suspend father-son relationship for two hours when we're at practice. And I think that's really important to do to out of fairness to everyone else, but also um not make anyone feel like he's being treated any different. And so, yeah, listen, as soon as practice is over, I go back to being dad. Um, but uh I think as he's gotten older and he's gotten more mature, he handles that really well.

SPEAKER_03 35:03

Yeah. I um just a small blurb about me, but I my dad coached me in softball for like six years growing up, and those are some of my favorite childhood memories because I don't know, it's just a sweet bond when it's done well. Like those are really fun memories. And when you go home, yes, you go back to being like the coach's kid, but also you can like work extra hard at home because they work with you and then practice your game. But it's just really awesome to see it portrayed in a positive light.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

So um, your matches canceled today, by the way. Just wanted to let you guys know. Pardon me for the interruption here.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

Real time update. Let's shout out to our AD.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Shocking since it's literally snowing outside. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

After being 85 yesterday. After being 85 yesterday. It's a whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 35:50

Welcome to Virginia in the spring. I hate spring. Um shifting years a little bit. So, Andrew, you grew up in Paris, correct?

SPEAKER_05 35:58

I did.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 35:59

So we'd love to hear Paris, Tennessee, not Paris, Texas.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Like Oh, that's exactly what I was thinking. The real deal. Like the real deal of Paris, France. We wee. We'd love to hear more about what that was like and kind of how that shifted your, I guess, development in tennis, what the tennis culture is like over there. Um, yeah, just tell us more about growing up in Paris, France.

SPEAKER_05 36:19

Yeah, sure. Um, well, tennis is a big deal in France. Uh, I would say after soccer, it's the number two sport over there. Um basketball maybe has risen up to number two by now. Um, but at the time it was really soccer and tennis. And so yeah, it was something that I started at five years old and kind of fell in love with very quickly. Um, but yeah, my dad was uh over there working for Euro Disney at the time, and my mom was working for the American Embassy. So my parents are both American from New Orleans. Um, but uh I lived there for 13 years growing up, and uh yeah, tennis was embedded in the culture. So over there they play on red clay, and it's very slow and high bouncing, so very different experience than playing tennis over here. Um, but uh yeah, that was kind of my infancy with it. And uh growing over there was really interesting from a bicultural perspective. I spoke English at home, I had American parents. The second I would leave the door, I was then immersed in an environment that was completely different than what I had at home. And so I think that probably taught me at an early age just how to adapt to different environments, you know, because it was definitely difficult to navigate at first. Um, but I'm really grateful for it.

SPEAKER_02 37:36

That's awesome. Is there a specific French tennis player that you model your game after?

SPEAKER_05 37:41

Oh, French to know. No, I try not to be. So I would say that I I was obsessed with all things American at the time because I that was my identity, but I didn't live here. So uh I was probably more and and the American tennis brand at the time was very much you hit a huge serve, you hit a huge forehand, and everything else is bad. So I would say I modeled my game that way uh very much. Uh unfortunately the French are kind of masters at doing everything well. I wish I had adopted that more. I'd probably be a better tennis player now. Um the uh the American way kind of became antiquated pretty quickly. Okay. Um, but that that's me.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

How about you, Colin? Do you have a specific player you model your game after?

SPEAKER_06 38:24

Um, well, there's player, a player who I say I play similar to, maybe, but I wouldn't say I model my game off of him, Andy Murray. He makes balls. And I like watching him play, I'll be honest, but he was never like my favorite tennis player growing up. I'd say when I was younger, maybe John Isner, but I'm not close to seven feet tall. And so I can't really I can't really hit an 140 mile per hour serve. So he's kind of tough to model your game off of. And I really like Francis Tiafo also, but I'm not that fast. He's one of the fastest players on tour, so I can't really play like either of them. So I don't know. I kind of just growing up, I made balls. That was and that's kind of still my game plan. Just make a ton of balls. Um obviously I'm more attacking focused now. When I was in middle school, I kind of just made balls, no attacking. They call it pushing for you just consistency. But I was a pusher, and that's not like if you talk to tennis players, they don't like pushers.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Huh. And then what does it mean to make balls?

SPEAKER_06 39:30

It's kind of like you don't just keep it alive, you don't hit winners, it's just really annoying to play against. You track everything down, make balls. Okay, nobody likes to play against the pusher, and they're kind of viewed as annoying. So that was you, and that was that was me probably sixth through eighth grade. I started to get better in eighth grade uh going on varsity, but now I've started to add more attacking and I have a bigger serve now. I mean, when you're playing uh one or two on varsity, pushing doesn't really work because the people you're playing against are hitting the ball big, and if you push, they're just gonna attack and finish the point. So I've had to adapt. But I kind of like not being a pusher now. Get more respect from other tennis players.

SPEAKER_05 40:11

Yeah, there's this graduation that occurs when you're a pusher in tennis. So there that's a very negative thing to call someone as a pusher, but they're very consistent, so they're hard to play. So I I actually respect pushers. Uh, but in the tennis circuit in the tennis world, uh, some people view that negatively. But then you you graduate to a term that's called a grinder. And so if you're a grinder, it's you're a pusher, but you play with a lot of spin and power. So that's kind of a more accepted style, which is what I would say you've become, Colin. So there you go.

SPEAKER_02 40:42

Grinder here. Be a grinder, don't be a pusher. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

So along those lines, Colin, I'm curious, you said with graduating from being a pusher, um, what is one thing that you could point to specifically that you are working on your game right now that you've seen a lot of improvement on? Um, and Andrew, I'll ask you the same thing because I know that you play on the side competitively when you can. And um, yeah, just curious, what's the one thing that you're really putting in a lot of effort on?

SPEAKER_06 41:08

Uh I think what I'm really trying to do is get more ragged head speed and put more spin on my balls instead of instead of kind of just if you get more spin on it, it bounces higher and it's a lot tougher for the other dude to get it back. And a lot of that actually comes with hitting the ball faster or swinging the racket faster. So that's what I'm trying to do. Kind of just hit a bigger ball. And I'm trying to work on a kick serve, which is what you usually would use as your second serve. And it's a serve basically where you brush up on the ball and it bounces really high. And it you try to hit it to your opponent's backhand because that's usually their weaker shot, and it's a tough serve to get back if you can be good at it. I'm not very good at it yet, but we're getting there. This is great.

SPEAKER_05 41:52

I'm loving to hear his thoughts here about his tennis game. This is great. This is good answers. Uh, I would say it, I mean, I'm a dinosaur now, so I would say that it's less about how I can improve my game, and it's more about how technology can help me. So are you a pusher as a dinosaur? No, I wouldn't say I'm a pusher, but now it's about how can I find the string and racket technology combination to kind of maximize what I'm capable of doing. So I would say it's less about perfect. I'm not perfecting anything at this point. It's about finding the right equipment to power me up.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

So if there's he comes out with some like bionic tennis racket that like improves your game tenfold, you're you're going for it. Oh, I'm all over it. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

He's he's gotta hang on to it. Um, I am learning so much about tennis right now. I truly know nothing about tennis. I've only played, I don't know, maybe in gym class in high school when we had like the tennis unit. And it's so hard. Because I, as I said, played softball. And so I like whack it as hard as I can, and then my ball goes somewhere. I never find it. Um you have anyone you want to shout out on the team? Like who's a shining star? Also, it is literally snowing very hard. What is okay, sorry. It's like a blizzard.

SPEAKER_05 43:15

Yeah, I'll uh I mean shout outs on the team. Obviously, I gotta shout out the coaches, uh Doug Doug Wampler and Tom Burns, the the theater teacher. Yeah, uh they're they're running JV. Uh they're both doing an amazing job. I'm so thankful for the two of them and just how they infuse uh comedy and fun into all their practices. Uh it's be it's become very theatrical with Tom, uh, which is which is absolutely it's incredible to witness, really. I mean, honestly, anyone listening, go watch a J V practice. It is so entertaining.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

Um, so our last spirit week, we had career day, the middle school did, and he came dressed like head to toe, full on like tennis uniform. And like had the sweatband, had armbands, carried around his tennis rocket. I was like, Wow. He's been ready for this. Yeah. I mean, he's really living into it.

SPEAKER_01 44:03

You have to tell the story about the king of the court and what was going on.

SPEAKER_05 44:08

He had one side shouting, uh, we must protect the king, and something along the lines of we must get the king on the other side, down with the king, yeah. Something like that. And uh there was a reference to the Magna Carta. Um, you know, I mean it was just what is going on over there, but but in the most entertaining way possible. So I think that guy might love tennis more than I do, which is great. Uh but then yeah, on varsity we have uh Bobby Montgomery who joined us this year that I am so thankful for. Um he's just been I've learned a lot from him, honestly. Um so he's been a great value ad. And then Henry Monroe, uh who is uh a former player of mine, attended Covenant, grad Covenant graduate from a few years ago. Cool. And uh now it's all come full circle for him, and he's helping on the staff. So um, yeah, I mean I could go down up and down the list of players, Colin. I'll leave you a couple to shout out, but I I will say my my uh my two freshmen, uh Liam Oakes and Stuart Sheehan, those two basically make me laugh every day. There's there's something that comes out of their mouth where I'm just like, how is your head there? But I love it.

SPEAKER_04 45:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 45:16

Um and uh so they're they're both highly entertaining. Yeah. Shout out to them. They're very funny.

SPEAKER_06 45:21

Yeah, I mean, it's tough to just shout out a few people, but two people, the two and three, Reed Verbruggy and Holden Pritchard, they're every single time they play, it's so close, and they're both great players, and you never know who's gonna win. And they're challenge matches, which are basically just matches to decide your rank, you play your teammate, and then winner gets the higher spot. Gotcha. And I mean they've just been battling, it's been like probably three years of since sixth grade. Three years of varsity for them, and they even since sixth grade, even on JV, they've always been so tight in matches, and they're both great teammates, but it's unbelievable. Like, there's it's never no one ever demolishes each other, like it's always close, and they're always switching off spots between two and three this year, whatever spots they're at. It's and they want it so bad too. And then after the match, they go back to being friends. It's it's pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_03 46:15

Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_05 46:17

Yeah, the really fun thing is, you know, I actually do have two players that have gone on to play collegiately. Shout out to Amy Rigg, who is at Randolph College, and then uh Dalton Weiss, who is just committed to Washington College. So I'm really excited about both of them. But you know, the reality is a lot of these kids are not going to uh play professional, certainly. Um, and so I I think the thing that's really cool about this experience is that tennis allows for so many life lessons and it gives us an opportunity as coaches to work with these players on finding ways to problem solve, finding ways to manage their emotions, and that's the most rewarding thing for me is I feel like I'm helping to equip them with things that they'll use later in life. Yeah, so it's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Okay, we're gonna wrap it up with one last question. Uh we have some tennis slang questions. This was mine personally. What does love mean? Help me understand.

SPEAKER_06 47:15

Okay, so love basically when you're shouting out the game score, you always say your score first and it goes zero, fifteen, thirty, forty, and then sometimes you do add, sometimes it's just a deuce point at 40 if you're tied for y'all. But love basically is just zero. If you're serving, say you go down zero fifteen, you say love fifteen. I don't really know why.

SPEAKER_03 47:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 47:36

I don't understand.

SPEAKER_03 47:37

It just sounds better than zero.

SPEAKER_06 47:39

It sounds better than zero. I guess they don't want to say that they have zero points. I don't really know. I mean, it's kind of just like stuck in my head now. Like if I said zero fifteen, it would just sound wrong.

SPEAKER_03 47:49

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 47:50

Yeah, it's historical, and actually, if you Google it online, you'll find a lot of different answers. It's it's actually um yeah, this is saying it's from the French word l'œuf, the egg. So l'œuf kind of sounds like love. Yeah, but uh and an egg looks like a zero, I guess. But yeah, I I think no one really knows. I mean, the the truth is that no one really knows. And it's just tennis is so old, and that's just it means zero.

SPEAKER_03 48:16

Okay. Um I feel less dumb now because no matter how many times like I look it up, or people explain it, I'm like, I just don't get it.

SPEAKER_05 48:22

One thing that's really important for you to know is bagels and breadsticks. Those are important tennis terminology. So you don't want to be bageled. You never want to be bageled. What does that mean? That means you had zero games. Of first. So if you get beat 8-0, you got bageled. Uh getting breadsticked is a little better. That means you won one game.

SPEAKER_02 48:44

This sounds like you're making it up, and this is a prank. This is a prank.

SPEAKER_05 48:47

Basically, you want a gluten-free tennis match. Um hilarious. Okay. But yeah, so bagels and breadsticks are bad. I mean, if you're bageling someone else, that's really good. Yeah. So yeah, I think those are two pretty good ones.

SPEAKER_06 49:00

You got anything else? There's golden set, which never happens, but that's where you go a whole set without losing a point, which is almost impossible. I mean, you gotta be really good, and the person you're playing has got to be really bad. And you can't double fault, you can't make any mistakes. I've never done it before. I think I don't know how close I've come. It's probably probably like five points away, but I'm never gonna do that in my tennis career. You could put me against someone who's never played tennis before, and I'd still lose a point by double faulting or something. Like golden sets are impossible.

SPEAKER_03 49:32

Amazing. Well, thank you for that little lesson and the added bonus of bagels and breadsticks, even though I'm still not convinced that's a real thing. It's fine.

SPEAKER_02 49:42

You want a glutinous tennis match, not gluten-free. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 49:45

Or no, no, you want to be gluten-free. You don't want bread, you don't want bagels, no breadsticks.

SPEAKER_05 49:55

That's true. There's a lot of you could workshop a Bodo's reference in there.

unknown 49:59

You could.

SPEAKER_02 50:01

Well, I think this is a perfect segue into our last part of the episode, which is our Gen Z slang. Yes. Which is perfect because we have Colin in the house. So Colin, I'd love to hear you. I don't know. Do you know?

SPEAKER_06 50:16

Wait, no, what?

SPEAKER_03 50:17

Well, yeah, were you born? Are you Gen Z?

SPEAKER_06 50:20

Um I'm Gen Z, yes. You're talking about 22.

SPEAKER_03 50:22

I think you're like right on the cutoff. I think it's middle school and lower.

SPEAKER_06 50:26

So I'm not Gen Alpha, but I'm close enough.

SPEAKER_02 50:29

Okay, so this is the true Gen Z. The true Gen Z slang. I'm also Gen Z, fairly. So we heard some tennis slang, but would love to hear if you've heard of any other slang going around the hallways of Covenant that has nothing to do with tennis. Too many to name, probably.

SPEAKER_06 50:47

There's a lot, and I don't know if I can say everything, but very fair. Uh there's some older ones too that maybe haven't stuck around, but such as I mean you could you could say Sigma, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Okay, I was gonna add one because I might have done that one yet. I recently made it orange.

SPEAKER_06 51:10

It's not as common anymore, but it's still a thing. Okay. And especially back in middle school, that was a lot. Explain. Okay, so I have no idea what it is. I guess Sigma is like a Greek letter, right? And there's like alpha and beta too. And they kind of all just like mean cool, I guess. Like alpha is like you're at alpha. It's like you're kind of the top dog. I don't know. And then beta's like a wolves. Beta's bad. You don't want to be beta. Beta bitch. That's like bottom, bottom. You don't want to be beta. And Sigma, I guess it's it's tough. I don't really know. It's good.

SPEAKER_03 51:49

I recently heard a middle schooler say what the sigma. And I was like, that's the context I heard it now. Yeah. Um what?

SPEAKER_06 51:56

I think it's kind of just like supposed to be a joke because Sigma Sigma's not really used anymore. It's kind of like I guess viewed as like cringy, maybe. So if you say what the sigma, it's like you're kind of trying to be cringy, I think. It's like I don't really know. I don't say what the sigma, so that's that's not in my vocab. You heard it here first, folks. Not your vocab.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

Colin would never say Sigma. Never, never. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 52:21

Well I I miss the days where and I tried to coach him out of this for years. This would have been this is old. So this would have been third grade, fourth grade. But I feel like you had a season there, Colin, where you were calling things dog water on a minute by minute basis. So dog water, I I would say just means not good.

SPEAKER_06 52:43

Yeah, well, you can say this is my thing, but really I said dog water for two years in third and fourth grade, and this guy, my dad, has probably been using dog water since like sixth grade. He just tried to he tried to put this on me, and he's really kind of digging a hole for himself.

SPEAKER_05 53:09

I'm trying to keep it alive.

SPEAKER_06 53:10

Yeah. He's the only person trying to keep dog water alive.

SPEAKER_03 53:15

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 53:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 53:17

Well, there you go. Don't say dog water, and don't say what the sigma. Don't say Sigma.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

That's your cringy.

SPEAKER_02 53:23

Again, you've heard it here though.

SPEAKER_03 53:27

Well, thanks for joining us guys.

SPEAKER_05 53:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 53:30

Appreciate you having us. Of course. Enjoy class rest of the day. Thank you. Enjoy the fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

Yeah.

unknown 53:37

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 53:37

It's weird weather. All right.

SPEAKER_00 53:39

Awesome. All right, guys. Thanks for winging it.

SPEAKER_03 53:42

Winging it. We're just winging it.