Head tennis coach Connor Mason and assistant tennis coach Jared Ewing have decided Azle Tennis will split its junior varsity team into two.
“We decided to create a JV 2 since we have such a high number of kids in our program,” Mason said. “We have more than what a JV roster can hold.”
As the school continues to grow each year, the sports programs grow along with it. The tennis team has seen a substantial rise in numbers in the last few years with about 15 new athletes each year. Now, with 52 eighth-grade players, the high school expects to see an even larger freshman class coming into the tennis program next year.
“I like that there is a second team because that just means we’re getting enough people that we’re in need of a second team,” junior Alexis Johnson said.
Mason said he hoped the new team would provide opportunities for more students to compete.
“In an effort to get everybody time to play, we have a JV 2 team that will go to their own set of tournaments in the spring and get an opportunity to play for themselves just to get better,” Mason said. “We don’t want a bunch of kids in the program that don’t get to experience playing on the actual team.”
In preparation for next year, Mason said JV 2 will officially begin during the 2025 spring season. He said the two teams will be around the same level, with JV 1 populated with more experienced players, and JV 2 reserved for those who are playing tennis for the first time.
“We’ve grown the team enough to where we now have enough kids to have a secondary JV with the caveat being they’re truly beginners,” Ewing said. “Like they’re picking up a racket for the first time.”
Since JV 1 and 2 are different teams, the majority of their spring tournaments will be separate from each other.
“We’ll have a JV tournament, and then we’ll have a JV 2 tournament on a different day and then varsity is on its own day as well,” Mason said, “But once district rolls around, a JV 2 kid will be competing with all of the other JV kids in a shot to win the district title in the spring.”
