Saint Ignatius is home to thirty five different sports teams split between fall, winter and spring. Each sport varies in intensity and mental power. However, girls tennis is especially challenging, and requires strong mental and physical power. The girls Saint Ignatius College Prep tennis team has been around since the early 1990s. They have been IHSA sectional champions ten times and GCAC champions six times.
Anna Stuart is a junior who has been playing tennis for Ignatius for the last three years. She said that the team is a lot smaller than most teams so “you grow a lot closer to your teammates.” Her favorite part is being able to play a sport she loves with her best friends. Anna described the most challenging part of tennis is the mental strength. She said that “tennis is an individual sport so you’re pretty much all alone so you have to be your own coach and motivator sometimes.” She said that the mistakes you make are your own fault. Anna explained that even in doubles you have to learn how to rely on your partner and form and make sure you guys are compatible in order to play the game correctly. Anna also shared that their practice courts are far away and her matches never have any student fans. When asked about how tennis has helped her through highschool so far, Anna responded and said that some girls on the team became her best friends and the older girls helped guide her through the challenging parts of highschool.
Meghan Tracy is also a junior who has been playing tennis for Ignatius since she was a freshman as well. Her favorite part of tennis is “the friends and bonds that I’ve made from being on the team.” Her favorite memory from the past season was senior night and all of the team bonding. Meghan said that senior night was special because she got to “celebrate the teammates that have been with us since our freshman year”. For team bonding the girls went on boat rides and had sleepovers. When asked how important team bonding is, Meghan said that “it brings the team closer together which makes practice and games a lot more fun, when we have fun on the team it makes me love tennis even more.”
To conclude, Meghan and Anna both conveyed their love for tennis and the girls on the tennis team. However, they feel that the Saint Ignatius athletic department doesn’t fully support them. For example, Anna said that they “have to buy their own uniforms.” This is drastically different from other sports, where players are just given the uniforms and expected to return them at the end of the season. Another thing that the girls mentioned is that no one comes to their matches. However, Anna said that hopefully this will change with the new courts that are being built. Despite the challenges they face, the Saint Ignatius girls tennis team continues to find strength in each other, building a community of resilience and camaraderie both on and off the court, setting an inspiring example for future players.
