Up until last Wednesday, the boys' tennis team at Douglas High School was without a coach.
Then, just two players showed up to the first voluntary workout.
After a week of practice, the roster has quickly grown to 11, giving the Tigers a full stable of athletes to fill its nine-man lineup for the upcoming season.
Rod Smith, who's lived in Carson Valley for more than 20 years, read in the newspaper over the summer that the team was without a coach.
"I saw they hadn't been able to hire a coach, but I didn't think I'd be able to work my schedule out," Smith said.
He checked it out with his employer, GE Energy, and got the schedule worked out so he could coach the team.
"I worked at Rite of Passage for 20 years and helped out with their tennis program for a number of years," Smith said. "It was a nice introduction to teaching and coaching.
"I'm like a kid in a candy store. I haven't been this excited in a while. I used to play quite a bit, but my schedule during the week hasn't really allowed for it."
In an era where more and more emphasis is put on offseason work, Smith said he has been blessed with an extraordinary list of athletes, many of which signed on literally at the last minute.
"When two kids showed up to the first practice, I thought, 'Oh man, this could be a long year,'" he said. "We had seven the second time out and now we're up to 11."
Sophomore James TenBroeck, who came within one match of the regional title last year, will again be the Tigers' top player entering the year. He posted a 26-3 record in 2008 and finished third at regionals, qualifying for state.
"He's just a standout player," Smith said. "He has a strong desire to continue to push himself to the next level. He had a lot of coaching over the summer from (former UNR coach) Kurt Richter and he just has a lot of confidence coming in to the year."
Sophomores Garon Athanacio and Craig Stratton and freshman Matt Johnson should all figure into a surprisingly strong group of singles players considering the overall youth.
"Matt is going to be a great player and Garon and Craig give us some good returning experience," Smith said. "We'll have some good players at the singles level and there will be a bit of a dogfight for seeding at the doubles level."
Other returners include senior Derek Bolstad, freshman Tayler Christopher and junior Grant Mason.
Outside of that, Jack Gooding and a trio of basketball players - Aaron Allen, Matt Thomas and Matt Williams - will round out the doubles roster.
"We only have one senior, so we are very young," Smith said. "The guys that are brand new to tennis, a lot of them are on the basketball team. It takes a while to master the right technique in tennis, but you can get by on athleticism to a certain extent. They are all great athletes.
"The good news is that with a small team like this, everyone will get some good playing time and gain some valuable experience."
Smith said he's also received a lot of help from Mike McLaughlin, who coached the team for the last three years before his schedule wouldn't allow him to make the road trips this season.
"Mike has been a huge help and I've been grateful for it early on here," Smith said.
Douglas opens its season Sept. 1 at home against Reed. Other home matches include Sept. 3 against Galena, Sept. 10 against South Tahoe, Sept. 17 against Manogue and Sept. 24 against Fallon. All matches start at 3:30 p.m.
Joey Crandall can be reached at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
