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Coach
Blaha
Leads Annies Tennis in First Year as Head Coach
“When
you’re a coach and you’re teaching stuff,
but there are no results, they’re not really
going to believe you. Now that we’re starting
to win, they’re starting to see, okay this
makes sense.” First year Annies’ coach Ryan
Blaha describes the progression of his girls
tennis players.
Coach
Blaha’s coaching career not only includes
tennis, but also basketball. He began student
teaching at
Bell
City
High School
in
Missouri
. Their coach, who had won two state
championships in the previous three years, took
Blaha on as his varsity assistant. After leaving
there, he became assistant coach and head
recruiter at
Southwest
Illinois
College
where he had played college basketball. The next
three years after that Coach Blaha would spend
at O’Fallon as varsity assistant boys
basketball coach and head boys tennis coach.
Centralia
High School
has impressed Coach Blaha up to this point. “I
love the school. It seems like a very laid back
faculty. Very supportive, everybody’s really
helped me. I’ve taught and coached before,
that’s not a problem. I know the material, but
just adjusting to the new school and the
policies has been very helpful and I’ve
enjoyed working here more than anywhere else.”
The Annies” tennis team has been in a
rebuilding mode this year. Having lost their top
four players from a year ago, they have a very
young team. They are led by senior
Anne-Charlotte Thommen. Thommen is a foreign
exchange student from
Belgium
. “At first, it was a little tough to
communicate. She doesn’t speak a whole lot of
English, but she’s helping the team
tremendously.
Shelby Smith is number two. She’s a
junior and probably has the best attitude on the
team. She’s really a good girl. She gives it
her all, show’s a lot of emotion,” explained
Blaha. Junior Bailey Demijan and sophomore Lizzy
Bauer take up the number three and four spots
respectively. The two also team up to play
doubles. “They got third, recently, at the
Annies Invitational.” The only other senior on
the team, Erica Foltz, plays number five. “I
would say varsity wise, she has improved the
most from the beginning of the year to now.”
Freshman Jennifer Ingersoll rounds the team out
at the number six spot.
The Annies have made huge strides in
becoming better tennis players this year. Coach
Blaha explained the area where the most
improvement was made. “I would say just
knowing the game… I got here and it was my
first time coaching girls, and a lot of them
didn’t know when to switch sides. Now they
know the game, and now that they know the game
they feel more comfortable and more
confident.”
Click
here to read Stile's interview with Golf Coach
John Sallee
Click
here to read Stile's interview with Football Coach Phil
Watson
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