Pony tennis teams preparing as best they can

March 12, the Havre High tennis teams started their season. It just wasn't in the way the Blue Ponies were used to.

The first day of Havre High's 2018 season, and, possibly many more like it, was spent on the gym floor inside Sunnyside School. Havre was inside because winter hasn't even come close to loosening its grip on Havre or the Hi-Line, and because of that, HHS head coach George Ferguson says, spring sports are likely to not have a normal season, at least for a while anyway.

"I'm hearing from my weather service people that spring isn't coming to Havre anytime soon," Ferguson said. "A National Weather Service metrologist told me back in January that it was Havre's turn for a really bad one, and he wasn't wrong. This winter has been rough on everyone in this town and beyond. But at that time, I would have never guessed that through the end of March we wouldn't see a true 40-degree day, and that's what they're forecasting."

What does that mean for spring sports? And tennis in particular? Ferguson said it won't be easy by any means.

"We've been shoveling the tennis courts for three weeks now, and we're not done," Ferguson, who is in his 17th season coaching Blue Pony tennis said. "We've made a ton of progress, but the courts are not in good enough shape to do what we would normally do, and definitely not ready to host or play real tennis matches on. And, even though they are melting little by little, it's taking forever. So, the beginning of this season is going to be pretty difficult as far as how we would normally start a new year. A week in, we should already be seeing the rust coming off the older players, the new players should be learning a ton, we should be doing our varsity qualifying, and playing practice matches to get ready for our first meet. And we haven't been able to scratch the surface yet of any of that. So, we're behind, that's for sure."

Behind is where most spring sports teams are right now, but, the Blue Pony tennis teams will keep pushing forward, though practicing in the gym is far from ideal.

"You can't simulate tennis on anything but a tennis court," Ferguson said. "It's just not a sport that's adaptable to other surfaces. So that's the real problem with where we're at with the weather."

As for what the Ponies can do, Ferguson said, it's about basic fundamentals. He can feed balls to the players so they can work on all their strokes. They can serve, hit groundstrokes and volleys, they can work on basic fundamentals, and of course, work on two extremely important things in tennis — footwork and conditioning.

"We can accomplish things in the gym for sure," Ferguson said. "We work on the simple stuff, swings, technique, proper footwork, a lot of the little things that are very important in tennis. Those are all things we would be working on right now if we were outside, too. The difference, though, is the gym floor. The ball skips instead of bounces, and also you don't have the real dimensions of a tennis court. So you can't really see exactly what your shots are doing, where they're landing, those types of things. And the other thing that's just not possible is, for the kids to hit with each other, across the net from each other. You just can't do that in the gym. So again, it's tough."

It's especially tough when you consider the Ponies have their first meet of the season coming up Saturday. The Cut Bank Invitational is the starting point for the Ponies' regular season, and while Cut Bank itself is buried under snow still, the school has two roll-out tennis courts that are used for play in the gym. So, no matter how many days Havre has to spend inside Sunnyside over the first two weeks, they will play real matches come Saturday.

"That will actually be a great thing," Ferguson said. "Those matches we get inside Cut Bank's gym, those will probably be our first of the year, practice or competition. So I'm probably more excited for that meet than I normally would be, and I am always excited to get to Cut Bank. Saturday is going to be great for the kids that get to play down there, because I think it will finally give us a sense that tennis season is really here."

Until then, though, the Ponies will have to make do with what they've got. Ferguson said the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts, at least two of them, are completely clear of snow and most of the ice, but with precipitation refusing to stop falling, the courts remain too wet to conduct real practices on. So Havre will continue to prepare for not only Cut Bank, but the bulk of its season, as best it can.

And while the situation the Blue Ponies are in is a tough one, Ferguson said, there's one thing that puts a smile on his face, and makes him want to continue to fight back against the awful weather every day.

"The kids," he said. "Their attitude and enthusiasm is just awesome. Whether it's shoveling the tennis courts, or practicing in the gym, they're so excited and pumped up for this season still. They are such great kids. I'm blessed to coach all these kids, and the way they're dealing with this, it's just awesome, and I'm so proud of them for that. Because this isn't easy. This isn't the start to the season they've all been dreaming about for the last few months. And yet, they come to practice excited and ready to work hard. And when spring finally does come, and real tennis weather finally gets here, that great attitude they're showing right now, that's going to make it all the better. It's going to pay off."

And while Ferguson said he hopes that real tennis weather gets here sooner rather than later, the positivity he and his tennis player are showing, is a bright reminder that, even with a foot of snow still covering the entire town of Havre, tennis season is here, and to him, and all the Blue Ponies, there's nothing better.

"From the last day of the season, to the first day of the new season, not a day goes by that I don't think about tennis and these kids," Ferguson said. "They're just awesome, and, if we have to battle all this bad weather we've been dealt, then so be it. These kids and coaching Havre High tennis, it's worth fighting the weather. So that's what we'll keep doing, we'll keep fighting back, keep shoveling if we have to, and keep staying positive, and we'll find a way to make this season just as special as all the other ones that have come before it."

Note: This is the first in a series of stories on how the record-breaking winter is affecting the start of spring sports on the Hi-Line. For a report on the Havre High track teams, see Wednesday's Havre Daily News.