On the court: ERHS girls tennis team captains!

Photo by tennis team members featuring captains: Veronica (senior), Jessica (senior), Mia (junior)

This year, the tennis team has three great captains - Veronica, Jessica, and Mia - to help them learn and have a good time. On and off the court, they succeeded in many of their goals and aspirations, bringing positive vibes to the team. Jessica and Veronica are seniors this year, so unfortunately they will be graduating, but Mia will keep being the captain for another year. 

In terms of watching tennis: 

Veronica’s preference for watching tennis changes based on whether it’s professionals or high school players. In terms of pros, she would say singles. For high school matches she prefers doubles because she likes to learn and watch others play. On TV, Veronica says doubles looks much less interesting than it actually is. Jessica loves watching both the tennis channel and high school doubles teams. She specifically appreciates the communication that takes place on high school courts. Mia really enjoys watching doubles, because she likes seeing the two people working together, especially when they have really good chemistry. She normally watches singles mostly because she is a singles player herself. 

Their favorite hobbies outside of tennis all illustrate their vibrant personalities and interests. 

In her free time, Veronica likes to do robotics. She also has a lot of homework, as many DP students do. Jessica enjoys reading when she has time, and she also likes playing her instrument, the flute, to relax. Mia really likes reading despite not always having time for it, painting (she has a bunch of canvases up in her room & paints gifts for friends, “just to have an excuse to paint”), and watching movies, (especially with family.) She is currently into Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Place (season 4).

A few tennis role models in particular are favorites of Jessica, Mia, and Veronica.

For Jessica, she would say Billie Jean King, because it’s the obligatory answer from Coach Jacobson (she was kidding), or Jannik Sinner, even though Jessica said she’s “more of an Alcaraz.” According to Jessica, she says “Veronica’s the Sinner to my Alcaraz.” Veronica would say Sinner as well, because she’s Italian, or Coco Gauff. Some of Mia’s favorite tennis players include Alcaraz, Ben Shelton (because of previous tennis captain Whitney, who really liked him), and Sinner (because the boys tennis captain, Victor, likes him.) Another one of her favorites is Coco Gauff, who she got to see play at the US Open.

Before choosing tennis, the captains all played sports. 

Jessica usually ran track during her elementary school field days. She also played basketball and volleyball in her free time. Veronica ran cross country for a while and played baseball growing up. She wanted to become a professional, and played until she was 8; however, because women weren’t accepted in the sport, she stopped. Coaches would call her “sweetie,” and she wasn’t taken seriously - she wanted to get out of PE, and tennis was the only sport that didn't require tryouts, so she decided to give it a go. Mia has not played any other sports besides tennis: her parents played it when they were growing up, so she used to join them as a kid. She played up until high school and was very eager to join the team here at Eagle Rock. 

If they could go anywhere in the world, they’d each go somewhere where they could learn about a vibrant history and culture. 

Veronica would like to go to Sicily, Italy, because she wants to eat a “proper desert Sicilian cannoli.” She can also speak fluent Italian! Jessica wants to go to Mexico to explore her heritage. Mia would really like to travel to the middle of Europe where you can get everywhere by train, and the Netherlands. 

For food, Jessica loves a variety of meals, but especially ceviche. Veronica, on the other hand, loves anything at Wetzel’s Pretzels. 

Veronica says that she really enjoys Wetzels Pretzels, the bites or the hot dog, as long as the actual bread pretzel part is there. She will also eat any piece of cake set in front of her, and “drinks lemonade like water.” As for Jessica, it's a tough question for her to answer, and says she loves both sweets and ceviche. Mia’s favorite foods include pupusas and pho soup. 

They’ve each had similar years here at ERHS. 

Both seniors started going to ERHS in 7th grade, and had to have their 7th grade year online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, although Mia started in 8th grade. They also all participate in ERHS extracurriculars, with Veronica being our ASB president and in robotics. Jessica is in band, and Mia is president of the Noteworthy Choir Club.

When they were younger, they had many diverse interests and hobbies. 

Veronica was interested in classic cars, like what her dad owned, and competition math tournaments.  Jessica liked reading and remembered how she would read at recess. Mia has a very active family, so she played a lot of tennis at the run-down sycamore park courts on the weekends. When she was little she would go to palm springs, where she first learned to play. 

All three of these captains have accomplished major things so far, but a few in particular stand out for them.

Veronica has the major accomplishment of being ASB president, tennis captain, and is proud of how she has adapted to ERHS. Jessica is proud of how she doesn't care about popularity and cares about friends instead. Mia is excited that she passed the AP chem test. Additionally, the achievement she is most proud of and honored to get is tennis captain.

If they each had to pick one favorite teacher, 

Jessica would say that Ms.Youngblood-Jarman has helped in tough spots, and she used to be in the yearbook, so they’re “tight like that.” For Veronica, Ms. Ramos would be her favorite;  while physics can be a challenging subject, she feels very welcome in her class and feels recognized for her accomplishments. Despite having a lot of favorite teachers, Mia’s top two are Mr. Oliveros and Ms. Muños.

When they first joined the team, they were skeptical about the future, but each quickly adapted.

When Veronica started, there were only 5 girls who joined in their freshman year, (including Jessica and Mia.) Even though only three remain, she has become less quiet, and gotten to meet new people and some of her best friends. On the first day of practice, Jessica said she was skeptical about the possibility of making new friends, but after talking to people, she eventually branched out and the team became a family that has helped shape her leadership skills. For Mia, being on the tennis team has made it “a thousand million hundred” times better. When she first came to ERHS, she was in between friend groups but by joining the team, it solidified her friends and helped her feel like she belonged. 

They’ve all got big plans for the future, whether that’s majoring in sciences, engineering, or medicine. 

In her future, Veronica wants to go to college to become an engineer and is very passionate about her involvement in the community. Jessica’s always had an interest in biology research,  especially marine biology, and Mia would like to go into medicine after high school. 

Being tennis captains together has taught them many valuable things for later in life.

For Mia, it’s helped her to keep her energy up and turn it into something she wants to build on. Jessica said that being a captain has taught her to become less of a people pleaser, and become more assertive. Veronica’s dealt with some ups and downs, and co-leading the team has taught her about leadership, friendship, and initiative.. 

For fun, we asked the captains their favorite movies or genres.

Jessica said it would have to be White Chicks, because of the nostalgia. In terms of genres, Mia’s go-to is romcoms, while Veronica’s is 80s classics.

If they could meet anyone in the world,

Veronica feels obligated to say a great tennis player. However Jessica had a different idol in mind; Kamala Harris, because she’s a woman in power who “gets a lot done.” If Mia could go back in time to meet anyone, she’d like to see her parents when they were younger, to see their childhood and life when they were her age.

Mia’s childhood pet:

She had a cat named Porah who was her moms cat, and lived to be 20.

What Mia loves the most about playing tennis:

She loves the vibes of the team, and how they all support each other. Specifically for her, singles can be hard on her mentality, but having teammates cheering always helps to keep her going.