Coach: Vandy’s future in team’s hands

When asked to explain the source of their team’s success, most high school coaches are quick to point to the leadership of their senior players.

For 19-year Vandebilt Catholic tennis coach Kevin P. Ramirez, it is the play of freshmen and sophomores that have kept the Terriers undefeated halfway through the season.

“In other sports, typically the seniors are your best athletes,” he said. “That’s not necessarily the case in tennis. I can have a Matt Spence, a Jessica Bourque or an Emma Pitre, all sophomores, who are the leaders. Two of them (Spence in boys’ singles and Bourque in girls’ doubles) already have state championships.”

Include the boys’ doubles team of freshmen Nick Caletri and Jacob Richard, who were state semifinalists last year, and the youngest Terriers are carrying the defending boys’ and girls’ Division II state champions.

Vandebilt is not void of quality senior players. Three of their four seniors – Jack Clements, Julie Cronan and Alexandra Bourgeois – were also state semifinalists in 2008.

To deal with having a 54-member team, Ramirez is in the second year of an experiment where he has split the squad into three tennis teams.

The top 10 to 12 players comprise the Varsity Gold team.

The Varsity Blue team is made up of the next 10 to 12 best players.

The remaining players are placed on the junior varsity team.

“What I’ve sold to the school is that you might have a kid at the bottom of the Gold team and gets a little playing time, but they also play at the top of the Blue team and that gives them a lot of reps,” Ramirez said. “I have found those kids get a lot more match play experience, and they tend to go up the ladder a little bit quicker.”

“The Varsity Blue team anywhere else would be a JV team,” he added. “They went undefeated last year as a second-level team because of their tournament experience. You can call them a ‘B’ team, but they beat a lot of the ‘A’ teams that we have on our schedule.”

Ramirez, who has led Vandebilt to five state titles, does not have any difficulty assessing who will play on which team. But the players also have their say.

Competition between players before and during the season allows them to vie for spots on the Gold and Blue teams. Preseason they are called practice matches; in season, they are challenge matches.

“Those matches determine where they will go more than tournament play,” Ramirez said. “It also helps when parents want to know why their kid isn’t on the varsity teams. I just pull out the practice match results.”

The results have shown in regular season matches as well. The Gold team (boys’ 5-0, girls’ 4-0 as of Monday) have been dominant even against traditional powers like fellow 2008 state champions St. Thomas More (girls’ Division I) and Episcopal School of Acadiana (boys’ Division V)

“St. Thomas More won state titles for 10 years in a row (1998-2007). We beat a team of that quality 16-4,” Ramirez said.

“Episcopal we beat 21-3. That says something about our program. But like I told my team, ‘That’s great and everything, but that doesn’t mean anything tomorrow.'”

“Our guys have played really well,” he added. “Right now, I like where our team is.”

One area the coach would like to see his team improve is focus.

“I would like to see our kids get mentally focused on what’s going on and concentrate in the moment instead of thinking ahead or complaining about the past,” Ramirez said.

The same advice, however, doesn’t apply to Spence, the defending boys’ state singles champion.

“I don’t want him to have the mentality that anything less than a repeat is a failure,” Ramirez said. “Without it being said, I think he felt that pressure.”

With a month before the Regional 3-II Tournament (April 27-28) and State Division II Tournament (May 4-5), there is only one thing for the Terriers to do: get better.

Just like last year, both tournaments will be held at the Terriers’ home court, Renaissance Health and Racquet Club.

The coach believes it will be a huge advantage to have those tournaments in Houma.

“Obviously, we are familiar with the courts, and the kids like things that are familiar,” he said. “I think having the home crowd behind us will have something to do with it too.”

Looking at the other Division II schools, Neville could pose a challenge for both the boys’ and girls’ titles and Alexandria on the boys’ side.

But there is only one team Ramirez considers the real threat to dethrone Vandebilt.

“I tell my team every year that the only team that can beat us is us,” he said. “If we play to the level we’re capable, we should repeat. If we don’t, we can lose like anybody else. It’s up to them how the season ends.”

Sophomore Jessica Bourque gets some clandestine advice from Vandebilt Catholic tennis coach Kevin Ramirez. * Photo by KEYON JEFF