By: Sam Steffes
Among the over two-thousand students attending Oak Creek High School, there are countless outstanding Knights that have continuously proved that they have what it takes to make up an amazing school. There, standing confidently with her tennis racket in hand, is none other than Corrine Howard.
With her final tennis season officially over, she is grateful for the opportunity she had with the team, but also ready to move on.
Howard began her tennis career strong, taking lessons as far back as in the summer of Kindergarten. It wasn’t until seventh grade that she began taking private lessons.
“She knew exactly how to coach and [how to] make it entertaining too,” she said, remembering her days with her coach.
Her name was Sarah, and Howard said she was an inspiration.
“[Not] like, one of those hard coaches that made you want to quit every second. She made me want to keep going,” commented Howard.
Howard acknowledged her private coach was not the only one to bring motivation to her world of tennis. Her mother also played the sport throughout her days in high school.
“She was the one that wanted me to play, and then I started playing and loved it,” she added.
Howard has passion– that’s no surprise to anyone. Having held the top spot on the varsity team as a senior, anyone would concur that it took passion for her to get there. But after playing the game for nearly her entire life, her feelings have changed significantly.
“Let me just say, I’m probably the best I’ve been in the last couple of months because I don’t have that stress anymore…” Howard said. “[I was] the best of the best, playing the very top spot. But then [I was] also playing other schools who [were] their best of the best.”
She also discussed what she went through mentally.
“It really kind of weighs down on you and your self-esteem because it’s just like, I only won three matches my whole season,” said Howard.
Howard felt that maybe she wasn’t the best player– a very hard pill to swallow as an athlete.
“It kind of takes away from that passion.”
Although her tennis career is over, she is thankful for the lessons learned during her time with the sport.
Sword and Shield 