平城高校、市立西宮高校と練習試合 Practice Matches

今日は午前中は中学生数名を含むＢチームが奈良の平城高校で練習試合をさせていただき、午後からは本校でＡチームが平城高校と兵庫・市立西宮高校に来ていただき３校で練習試合を行った。Ｂチームの選手にとっては、普段なかなか練習試合に参加できない中、たくさんの試合をすることができ大きな経験となった。初めて練習試合で勝利する選手や、負けて涙する選手もおり、これからますます頑張っていくための刺激をもらうことができた。中学生にとっては高校生と試合をさせてもらうことができ、充実した経験となった。Ａチームの練習試合ではお互い気持ちのこもった接戦が多く、１試合１試合が中身の濃い価値のあるものとなった。まだまだ接戦を勝ちきれなかった試合も多かったが、以前に比べてミスが減り、相手に無駄なポイントを与える場面が減少した。それぞれ課題はたくさんあるが、大きなものから一つ一つクリアしていき、今月末から始まるインターハイ予選に臨んでほしい。今回は試合をさせていただいた２校のチームからたくさんの刺激をいただくことができ、収穫の多い練習試合となった。心より感謝したい。

The bottom half of the team visited Heijo High School to play practice matches in the morning, while the top half of the team had Heijo High School and Ichiiritsu Nishinomiya High School over for practice matches in our school. 

For the lower-ranked boys, who can't often play practice matches, it was a great opportunity to increase their match experience.  Some junior high boys joined and played matches.  From the reactions some of the boys showed after losing or winning a match, I could tell they had gotten much more serious about tennis than before.  Having played those matches, the boys must have realized their weaknesses and determined to work on them in practice.

Most of the matches in the afternoon were close and the boys from all three schools played every single match with eagerness and desire to get stronger.  As a result, there were many competitive and meaningful matches.  There were many things for the boys of our team to learn from the other two teams.   Many of the boys showed some improvement from their last practice matches.  They had fewer unforced errors and seemed to want to win more.  I hope they will make the most of what they learned today and connect it to their next ( and last for the third-years ) tournament.