Spring Break
Men's tennis team enjoys 'special' bond
Tight-knit team gains advantage
RACHEL BOWERS
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: Sports
It is a team comprised of eight guys, from eight ends of the world with eight different stories to tell, who all work together around the clock for one common goal: to achieve undisputed greatness.
It is a team equipped with talent along with the hope of leaving behind a lasting legacy of winning ways and hard work while establishing worthwhile relationships that will carry more meaning than any championship could ever muster up.
It is a family.
"I think being on a team like this is really very special for any sport and any athlete. It's just easy for us to get along, do our jobs and also have fun on the side because we're such good friends," said Nate Schnugg. "I really have never seen anything like it anywhere else."
That family environment the Bulldogs have is not a product of a lucky coincidence or serendipitous occurrence, but rather the product of a different type of effort than that exerted on the tennis courts day in and day out.
"You got to work at it, just like everything else. It doesn't happen by itself. You have to foster it, and you have to lay out your mission and you have to make the kids buy into it," said head coach Manuel Diaz.
The exertion the Bulldogs have poured into each other has assisted them in building the foundations of exemplar friendships, the types of friendships that are never precarious, but that are well anchored in a close-knit team environment, a family.
"We kind of have a running conversation with each other. We never really stop talking to each other," said Drake Bernstein. "I could call on anybody. Everybody would come running to you, even when the smallest thing happens. I hope I could do the same for them."
Because those foundations, friendships and support are well intact off the court, the family mentality has shown to be a contributing factor to the Bulldogs' No. 4 national ranking.
"Once you get into the top 10, there's not much separating the [teams]. When you have guys on the court next to you that you can trust and you can count on and you're really close with, and they count on you, it just kind of builds everybody up," said Bernstein. "It goes a long way."
It is a team equipped with talent along with the hope of leaving behind a lasting legacy of winning ways and hard work while establishing worthwhile relationships that will carry more meaning than any championship could ever muster up.
It is a family.
"I think being on a team like this is really very special for any sport and any athlete. It's just easy for us to get along, do our jobs and also have fun on the side because we're such good friends," said Nate Schnugg. "I really have never seen anything like it anywhere else."
That family environment the Bulldogs have is not a product of a lucky coincidence or serendipitous occurrence, but rather the product of a different type of effort than that exerted on the tennis courts day in and day out.
"You got to work at it, just like everything else. It doesn't happen by itself. You have to foster it, and you have to lay out your mission and you have to make the kids buy into it," said head coach Manuel Diaz.
The exertion the Bulldogs have poured into each other has assisted them in building the foundations of exemplar friendships, the types of friendships that are never precarious, but that are well anchored in a close-knit team environment, a family.
"We kind of have a running conversation with each other. We never really stop talking to each other," said Drake Bernstein. "I could call on anybody. Everybody would come running to you, even when the smallest thing happens. I hope I could do the same for them."
Because those foundations, friendships and support are well intact off the court, the family mentality has shown to be a contributing factor to the Bulldogs' No. 4 national ranking.
"Once you get into the top 10, there's not much separating the [teams]. When you have guys on the court next to you that you can trust and you can count on and you're really close with, and they count on you, it just kind of builds everybody up," said Bernstein. "It goes a long way."
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