One-day Fountain Valley tennis tournament finds groove by reducing teams, matches
At first, the Fountain Valley Invitational tennis tournament tried to do too much.
Eight schools converged on the school’s nine courts to battle it out over a day of singles and doubles play.
A very long day.
“When the coaches were dragging at the end of the day, we knew something was wrong,” Fountain Valley tennis coach Andrew McPherson said. “We were starting at 8 and ending at 8. Having 12 hours of tennis in a day is tough for everyone involved. We decided we had to make some changes.”
Since then, this event barely pushes the boundaries of a regular business day. In at 8, out at 5 at the latest, thanks to cutting back on quantity, not quality.
McPherson decided to cap the event at six schools. In addition to Fountain Valley, the tournament also included Discovery Canyon, Lewis-Palmer, Palmer, Palmer Ridge and The Vanguard School. And all preliminary matches were decided in a pro set – first to eight games wins – as opposed to the traditional, best-of-three series that can drag on.
“I think we’ve got it down pat now,” McPherson said. “We feel like everything is going smooth now. It works out pretty well.”
The result: Happy players, happy coaches and teams that tend to want to come back the next year.
“This is a great tournament,” said sixth-year Palmer coach Todd Nelson, who hasn’t missed the tournament in his time at the downtown Colorado Springs school. “We play good teams here, and playing pro sets is the right way to do it when you have a one-day tournament.”
The tournament ended pretty much right on time with Discovery Canyon sophomore Nick Lorenz winning the No. 1 singles title in straight sets over senior Nolan Rademacher of Lewis-Palmer, whose Rangers captured the team title.
And not that a full day of tennis under a warmer-than-average day won’t drain even the most fit of athletes, but saving a few hours does make a big difference.
“I like the pro set since it’s shorter, and you can have good energy the whole time,” said Lorenz, a 4A state finalist a year ago. “You don’t have to get worried about getting too tired too early in the day.”
