Love at First Swing

Colorado Tennis Fall 2020 / Story by Tom Fasano

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For a time, it looked like the high school football season was in jeopardy. 

But when the going got tough, the tough played tennis.

Gunnar Ponzer always liked tennis, but it took the coronavirus pandemic to actually put a tennis racquet in his hand. Tennis was an afterthought for Nathan Bailey, who played the sport just once or twice. 

Wearing helmets and shoulder pads during the fall are what the two also have in common. When COVID-19 struck in 2020, playing under the Friday night lights looked like an impossibility for Ponzer, a junior outside linebacker at University High School in Greeley, and Bailey, a senior running back and safety at Mead High School. The fall football season was very much in jeopardy for players around the state as the health ramifications of playing factored in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s (CHSAA) decision to postpone football until Spring 2021. 

Football season signals the beginning of the school year at the end of August in Colorado. Due to COVID-19, CHSAA moved the season to March 4, 2021. However, on September 16, Governor Jared Polis announced the state had conditionally approved CHSAA’s request to allow certain outdoor sports — football, field hockey and sideline spirit — to take place this fall, and CHSAA offered schools the choice of playing football in the fall or spring. Fifty-eight of the 276 Colorado football programs across seven classifications opted to play in the spring, but Ponzer’s and Bailey’s schools chose to lace up the cleats in the fall.

Unfinished Business

Ponzer and Bailey had some unfinished business, though, before playing the sport that was near and dear to their hearts. The Colorado prep boys tennis season was still in play during the fall, and the sport that Ponzer and Bailey were so unfamiliar with turned into a sport that they said they would play for the rest of their lives. The thought of not playing football in the fall didn’t sit well with the two. They needed to be active, so they turned their attention to the tennis court.

Ponzer and fellow junior Jack Virgil, a middle linebacker for University, joined the boys tennis team for the Bulldogs and had an experience they said they’d never forget. 

“It was definitely way more difficult than I thought it would be, that’s for sure,” Ponzer said. “The forehand, backhand, hitting it over the net without flying it over the fence was pretty difficult, too, at the start.”

Ponzer, who plays baseball in the spring, said learning the proper footwork on the tennis court helped him at linebacker.

“I think it transferred really well to football,” he said. “I like the side-to-side agility part of it. It’s a sport where you’re moving a lot but not getting as tired. Tennis is definitely a mental game. Not hitting it over the net was very hard not to get frustrated.”

Learning Curve

Virgil, also a baseball player in the spring, said there was a learning curve, but he and Ponzer picked it up quickly.

“We were both raw. We really didn’t know what we were doing,” Virgil admitted. “We were going out there and having fun, but things got better throughout the season. I never realized how difficult it could be. We both picked up things a little better. We learned a lot and it’s something we can do all the time now.”

Bailey said tennis helped him stay in shape for the Mead Mavericks football season.

“You do a lot of lateral movement, a lot of side-to-side movement. It helped build up my ankle strength and hand-eye coordination,” Bailey said. 

Bulldogs coach Justin Kravig said Ponzer and Virgil started from scratch.

“It’s unfortunate that the season wasn’t longer. They had never picked up a racquet,” Kravig said. “They had no idea how to keep score. In a span of six or seven short weeks, there was huge growth out of both of them. They were partners in doubles. It worked out well for both of them. It gave them something to do, work on their footwork and kept them in shape somewhat before football started. It was a whole new experience for them.”

Love of Tennis

Tennis is something Ponzer always wanted to play, but was never able to because of football season.

 “I never picked up a racquet,” Ponzer said. “I know that (coach) Kravig is a very good and hard-working coach, so I knew that if I played tennis I’d still stay in very good shape. I’m a big fan of watching it, too.”

Bailey and teammate Porter Eastin were instrumental in forming a brand new boys tennis program at Mead, and Mavericks girls tennis coach Ben Holskin took over the helm. Bailey and Eastin recruited their football teammates Brayden Keys, Eli Mackey, Evan Morris and Kellin Tecu, and six other students joined them to form of team of 14 players.

Chad Eisentrager, athletic director at Mead, said Eastin texted him asking about starting a tennis program.

“I told him you need to find me seven boys at least that want to play as well. They wanted an opportunity to compete and belong to something and that’s what we did,” said Eisentrager, who added that the boys program would continue to be offered at Mead next year. 

“Within 24 to 36 hours, we had nine kids. These kids were yearning to do something. It didn’t surprise me. We had quite a few kids that came out as well that weren’t football kids, but just wanted an opportunity to do something since school was remote the entire time. How well it was received was awesome.”

Bailey said he had a blast playing tennis.

“Nobody on the team had any prior experience with tennis and we were all new to the sport,” Bailey said. “We started a little slow, but after a week or two we really started to improve really quickly. We put a lot of time in, got better and had a really fun season.”

Great Experience

Kravig and Holskin laugh at having to teach the football players the rules, how to keep score, where to stand on the court during doubles play and the other intricacies of tennis.

“They were getting the vocabulary all mixed up like game, set, match, point. They were calling one thing the other thing and vice versa,” Holskin said.

Kravig said that as the season went on, Ponzer and Virgil would ask questions and even their opponents helped them out.

“They rolled with it, worked hard, never complained and they were a joy to have out and a joy to have on the team,” Kravig said. “It was a great experience for the team, for us as coaches and for them as players.”

Ponzer said he adapted to the rules of the game the more he played it.

“At the very start, the rules were definitely a game-changer because I had no idea what we were doing,” Ponzer said. “Over the season, the rules started to make a lot more sense.”

Improved Skills

Holskin said the football players’ skills on the tennis court improved throughout the season. After practice, they would ask if they could stay and play.

“It was really impressive to watch from day one of practice to just a couple of weeks later,” Holskin said. “They’re just really athletic kids and they were having fun and picking it up quickly. There was no magic sauce or anything special I was doing. They wanted to get better. They liked to beat each other and they wanted to win. The simple fact that they had to constantly be on their toes, quick movements, was something they could translate. By the time they played in the regional tournament, every player at singles and doubles held their own. It was neat to watch.”

Ponzer, Virgil and Bailey said they developed an appreciation for the sport that they never had before, and they gained a new set of friends.

“I also created a lot of good friendships with the tennis team, too, because I never really knew them before. I got very close with the tennis team,” Ponzer said.

Lifetime Sport for All

The lifetime sport that tennis is so famous for has not escaped the football players.

“I’ve actually gone to play like four or five times with my dad right up the road because there are public tennis courts right by my house,” Ponzer said. “I really enjoyed playing the sport that I always wanted to play.”

Bailey agrees.

“It’s a really fun sport and I really do appreciate it now,” Bailey said. “I’m definitely going to play it more as I grow older. It is a lifetime sport.”

Holskin said the experience of coaching the boys was everything he had hope for.

“We would finish practice and they’d ask if they could stay after and keep playing,” Holskin said. “Their parents would come and stay with them and play. I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be a lifetime sport for a lot of them now.”   CT

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Editor’s Note: The Mead Football Team was able to take to the gridiron later in the season, and played their way to a 3A quarterfinal berth vs Pueblo South, but the game was forfeited by Mead due to a coronavirus quarantine: a disappointing ending to a fairytale season.