Despite pandemic restrictions, Greenwave tennis sees increase in workout numbers

The Greenwave tennis program is getting back into the swing of things after the pandemic put sports on hiatus.

John and Julie Moore, who tag-team coaching responsibilities for both the boys and girls teams, started workouts earlier this month at the high school. Aside from the extra precautions put in place by the school district, John Moore said things are looking close to normal.

“Workouts are going well,” he said. “All the players know about the social distancing and masks and are pretty good at it.”

With tennis being labeled as low risk because of the sport’s natural ability to keep distance between players, Moore said only four players are assigned per court during drills. Players have their own equipment and are now responsible for bringing their own water, which Moore said was a minor speed bump at first.

“We used to provide water but now the players have to bring their own. The first workout, some didn't realize how much they would need but now almost all of them bring a gallon,” Moore said. “The first workout, the players struggled. After two workouts, they seem to have acclimated to the heat and lack of exercise. All seem happy to finally have something to do now, though.”

Masks, though, are required when players are not competing or doing drills, like during instruction or breaks.

With the participation numbers higher than expected, Moore is excited about the upcoming season, which he said should look close to normal when it officially starts next month.

“Numbers are looking better, and it looks like we will have full teams this year,” he said of the boys squad. “Three freshman boys have already showed up for workouts.”

Among the current unknowns for tennis are the competition format and whether Fallon will compete against California schools Truckee, Incline, North Tahoe and South Tahoe. Moore said it’s possible that tennis could eliminate doubles competition and conduct only singles matches.

But asked how the season would look if it started today, he’s confident that it wouldn’t look too much different than last year. Transportation shouldn’t be affected because the boys and girls teams travel on separate days and it’s not difficult to social distance on the bus.

For now, though, the Greenwave is hosting voluntary offseason workouts on Mondays from 3-5 p.m.

The official start of the season is scheduled for Aug. 10 although that date could change depending on the state’s update to the pandemic response.