Foundation Academy tennis finds success on the court

Anywhere, anytime: That has become a sort of unofficial motto of the boys and girls tennis teams at Foundation Academy. 

With no tennis courts on campus, the Lions are nomads, scouring the land for a place to practice and play. By taking their matches on the road to other schools, they never have a true home game.

When you throw in complications from COVID-19 — which shut down their ability to use the courts at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Winter Garden — things have been different, head coach Brian Barnard said. 

“We go to the city and ask for a court, and they give us a court if we’re there first, and then sometimes there’s not a court available,” Barnard said. “We’ll practice on fields in the back of the school doing defensive lobs and serving into tables and stuff — just doing anything to kind of get a racket into the right position. It’s just been a weird year.”

However, it wasn’t completely unexpected that things would be so much different, Barnard said. With that in mind, he knew he would have to change some things to give his players the best opportunities to be successful. So, like any good coach, Barnard improvised and began to focus on taking full advantage of available technology.

“I knew that we were going to have a hard time with practices — just either scheduling courts or things like that, we were just having a hard time,” Barnard said. “We really wanted to make sure the kids were getting the best use of every single second on the court, so we changed some strategies. 

“We made sure to use some video, so either every practice, or every other practice, we would give video of them and send it to them, and we’d break it down and say, ‘This is what you’re doing and this is what we should try to do,’ just to get the quality out of practice rather than the quantity,” he said.
 

FROM ADVERSITY, SUCCESS

Before last season ended prematurely, the program was gaining momentum, Barnard said.

“We were definitely getting somewhere,” he said. “I was like, ‘You can definitely see the improvement from year to year.’ Then when COVID hit, we shut down, and they said, ‘It’s summertime, and you’re allowed to practice, but you can’t be within six feet of each other.’ Well, that’s perfect for tennis, because we’re pretty far away from each other.”

Every day — Monday to Friday — 10 to 12 athletes would show up just to hit a tennis ball around because they were tired of sitting at home. 

During that time, the team progressed — building itself up via the fundamentals of the game itself. By the time the new season arrived, they were more than ready — regardless of where they had practiced or played. So far, it’s clear all that work and new approach to the game has paid off.

The boys team started the season 10-0 and currently sits at 13-1, with its only loss being to a strong Windermere Prep squad. A big part of the success this year is the play of Lines 1 through 4 — which includes Luke Burton (1), Kyle Binkley (2), Everett McMullen (3) and Larenz Peri (4).

At the crucial Line 3 — often a game-decider in matches — McMullen, an eighth-grader, is the national leader in wins at his line, while Binkley sits at No. 2 in the nation for wins at Line 2 singles. Meanwhile, Burton — coming off an undefeated year last season at Line 3 — is the most athletic on the team, and Peri has a sizzling serve that clocks in at more than 100 mph.

“Those four guys — they can play each other and make each other better,” Barnard said. “That has really been a great thing to see as a coach.”

On the girls side, the year has been a bit more difficult. The day before practice started — freshman Dakota Darnell (Line 1) went down with an injury, forcing junior Maggie Goodman to step up and fill the role.

Since those early setbacks, the Lions have rallied to an 8-5 record. Darnell is back on the court, and Foundation has been finding ways to win games. Right now, Claire Herring is in the top 10 nationally in wins, Hope van der Reit is undefeated in district play, and eighth-grader Nia Young has found significant playing time across multiple lines for the Lions.

As the regular season draws to an end and the district tournament begins, Barnard said regardless of what happens next, he is proud of what these teams have accomplished during a difficult year.

“I’m very happy that they’re happy,” Barnard said. “It’s definitely rewarding to see their faces light up and they walk down the hallways with their heads up … and in the morning announcements they’re acknowledged. They’re not shy about making sure (people) know they’re on the tennis team.”