Hopewell Men's Tennis All-Decade Team

Hopewell High School recently closed the book on the first decade of existence. I had the opportunity to lead the Men's Tennis program for the majority of the decade. During this decade, the team won the conference title five times, a very impressive feat for a brand-new school.

I have put together an "All-Decade" team to recognize the top individuals who have led the program. One key aspect is this group followed the primary tennis "lineup" rule, which means this is the collection of the top players over the decade, not necessarily those with the best record. Therefore, if a player is on the team and played #2 at the peak of their career, then the individual who played #1 would need to be included.

In alphabetical order and on-court accomplishments(publication awards not included)

HOPEWELL MEN'S TENNIS ALL-DECADE TEAM


Matt Alexander ('07-10): Singles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2009; Doubles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2010; State qualifier in 2009; Two-time regional qualifier; Three-time All-Conference selection; played #1 as a senior, #2 as a junior, #4 as a sophomore, #5 as a freshman; Team titles in 2010


John David Curlis ('08-11): Doubles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2010; Doubles Conf. Tourney Runner-up in 2011, losing only to teammates; Four-time regional qualifier; Three-time All-Conference selection; played #1 as a senior, #2 as a junior, #3 as a sophomore, #6 as a freshman; Team titles in 2010 and 2011


Anthony Lopez ('08-09): Singles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2008; State qualifier in 2008; Two-time regional qualifier; Two-time All-Conference selection; played #1 in both years at Hopewell;


Tyler Roberts ('10-11): Singles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2010; Doubles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2011; State doubles qualifier in 2011; Two-time regional qualifier; All-Conference in 2011; played #2 as a senior and #5 as a junior (only years on team); Team titles in 2010 and 2011


Ryan Veatch ('04-07): Two-time Singles Conf. Tourney Champion in 2006 and 2007; Singles Conf. Tourney Runner-up in 2005; State qualifier in 2006; Four-time regional qualifier; Four-time All-Conference selection; Conference Player of the Year in 2007; played #1 all four years, leading team to conference titles in first three


Bryan Weynand ('03-06): Two-time All-Conference selection; led Hopewell to first conference titles in school-history, which resulted in three-peat ('04-06); played #2 for three years and #1 as a freshman


You can read more here.

Thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter @CSmithGoBlue

CS


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The Proposal in NC & My Thoughts

There have been some hot stove topics recently in the local media dealing with student-athletes.  Here are some of my thoughts:

There is a debated discussion right now dealing with high school athletics in North Carolina and whether parochial and charter schools should compete in the same postseason as public schools.  Some schools are currently members of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and belong to NCHSAA conferences, thus competing in the same postseason for team and individual state championships.  Recently, a proposal was put forth into motion to allow these schools to continue competing in their conferences, but have separate state playoffs (only parochial and charter schools). 

The basis for this proposal was due to the fact that parochial and charter schools do not have any attendance boundaries, where public schools have strict attendance boundaries.  I can speak from experience: the required paperwork for each student-athlete to verify they indeed live in the correct zone is endless in my previous district. 

Is it fair to have these schools compete against each other in state competition?  In my high school athletic career, I played at a public school and we would qualify for the Men's Tennis State Tournament and have to compete against Detroit Country Day School and University Ligget, both private schools.  One year, in which we finished 4th overall (the previously mentioned two schools finished #1-2), we joked about being state runners-up in the "public school tournament".  We were all competing, but definitely were not on a level playing field.  Then again, that was public vs private, which we already have the private-school competition. 

I also wonder why Magnet schools have not been included in this proposal.  If the primary reasoning is attendance, shouldn't Magnet schools be included?  Magnet schools pull students from anywhere within their district, regardless of their "home school".  In some districts which allow in-district transfer, a student has to sit out for 365 days before competing in athletics.  Student-athletes are allowed to play immediately in Magnet schools.

If Magnet Schools are included, then what about schools with International Baccalaureate (IB) programs?  These students don't necessarily attend the school closest to their home address.  I would hate to think students would chose not to participate in an IB program because of athletics, but it very well could happen.

If this proposal is adopted, it could drastically change high school athletics in North Carolina.  I will be very interested to see the result of the proposal and the ongoing discussion that will certainly take place.

Thanks for reading and follow me via Twitter @CSmithGoBlue

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

2012 "Suits and Sneakers" for Coaches vs. Cancer

2012 “Suits and Sneakers” for Coaches vs. Cancer

Ashbrook High School Staff

Every staff member that pledged to Coaches vs. Cancer was able to wear sneakers with their professional attire on Tuesday, January 31^st.

The event was capped off with Ashbrook hosting Kings Mountain, where both coaching staffs represented "Suits and Sneakers" during the game.

Here are some pics from the day:

Ms. Caldwell (Data Manager)

Mr. Carpenter (Counselor/Athletic Trainer)

Ms. Seawell (Media Specialist)

Mr. Birnstihl & Ms. Bryson (English Teachers)

Coach Duncan (Psychology/Sociology Teacher/Head Boys Basketball Coach/Athletic Director)

Ms. Sams (CTE Teacher)

Yours Truly

Coach Carsner (Social Studies Teacher/Tennis Coach/JV Boys Basketball Coach) & Coach Entas (CTE Teacher and Assistant Football Coach)

Coaches vs. Cancer Mission Statement

Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The initiative leverages the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of basketball coaches nationwide to increase cancer awareness and promote healthy living through year-round awareness efforts, fundraising activities, and advocacy programs. Coaches vs. Cancer provides critical mission outreach, while raising funds in support of the Society's lifesaving cancer research, education, advocacy, and community service efforts.

Every HS Varsity Head Coach should be on Twitter

My previous blog post explained how Twitter has impacted my professional growth.  This post is going to briefly discuss why I believe every high school varsity head coach needs to be utilizing Twitter.  Here's why:

• Twitter allows coach's to publicize their own teams in a very easy format.  It takes no more than a few seconds to post scores, results, upcoming games/matches, etc.  The more people are informed, the more support your team will receive. 

• Local sports writers covering prep athletics can easily follow your teams.  When I was a varsity head coach, I frequently received compliments from local writers about how much they appreciated my website, where I would post information daily.  Sure, we as coaches often fall into the trap of, "Well, if they want the information, it is their job to come get it."  Hey, I was a Head Men's Tennis Coach, and I knew that I had go bust my rear end to get some ink in the local papers.  If you truly want your teams to get attention, you've got to publicize yourself.  Twitter allows this to be done with a very little time requirement. 

• The parents of your players will love it.  Happy parents = less headaches. 

• Twitter helps promote student body support for your support.  Your followers will extend to current non-participating students, alumni, and even students of other schools.

• The number of coaching resources on Twitter are endless.  I don't care if you coach basketball, tennis, or swimming, any coach can find hundreds of resources on Twitter.  The days of attending all-day coaching clinics are gone when you can reach out to the top coaches in the country, especially college coaches, on a daily basis through Twitter.  My mentor, while I was an Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach, told me that any clinic is beneficial if you can come away with three things.  On Twitter, you can pull away much more than that.

• There are hundreds of fitness training resources, as well, that are not necessarily sport-specific.  Most gyms have Twitter accounts that provide various workouts, exercises, and health tips daily. 

These are the main reasons why I believe every high school varsity head coach should be on Twitter.  As a former Head Coach who kept as intense of a schedule as most D-1 tennis coaches, I know that time is of a minimum.  But, I believe the above reasons are well-worth the time for all coaches to utilize Twitter.

A HUGE thank you to all high school coaches for everything you do for our student-athletes.

Thanks for reading and please follow me via Twitter @CSmithGoBlue.

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.