When she approached me she had a grin from ear to ear, the same grin that she displayed the very first time we met. She stood surprisingly tall. Without my boots we would have been eye-to-eye. And she was proud. Proud of her smile and her braces, proud of her accomplishments, and proud of the match her team had just won.
With a career singles record of 46-6, Mashal Temory was even more proud that she was now helping the relief aid in Japan through a variety talent show, which she planned and organized as secretary of Key Club. That is where she was headed next.
The life of most, if not all, of the players on the Gar-Field high school girls tennis team is pretty chaotic. The team remains undefeated this season at 6-0 as they strive for what coach Chris Beemer describes as the only goal: to win the Cardinal District title.
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Some of the members play year round and are motivated by winning. They've either had private coaches, regular practice with parents, or a job at the Montclair Country Club tennis center in order to improve their skills during the off-season. However, professional tennis is not the lifetime goal of Temory, or any of her teammates, despite how good the team is.
The Gar-Field Indians are not only skilled at the game of tennis, they're also smart. Make that super-smart. Each of them participate in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program offered at Gar-field and while some have a heavier IB class load than others, tennis will always take a back seat to excelling at the game of life.
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International Baccalaureate is an extremely demanding program aimed at developing inquisitive minds that help to create a more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. The typical day for some of the team members ends with studying at 2 a.m., and classes begin weekdays at 7:30 a.m. As a senior, Temory takes Arabic in addition to her six IB classes per day, and she's also been working to complete the 150 community service hours required of juniors and seniors in the IB program. Free time with friends is almost non-existent, and when academia calls, tennis is a second thought.
Setting a routine schedule is a near impossibility for International Baccalaureate students in general, but this is especially true for athletes.
"I always say that it doesn't matter when the work gets done, as long as it's always done [on time]," said freshman Megan Daugherty. "But I'm still trying to find a balance where I can fit work, sports, and everything else in [my day] and still get some sleep."
Coach Beemer joked that the activities his students participate in may be a little too much for any one teenager to be involved in, especially for students such as Alecia Gaddis who also plays in the school orchestra. But the consensus amongst the team is that there are no regrets. As a matter of fact Temory, Daugherty and Gaddis all knew what they were getting into by participating in International Baccalaureate and even chose to go to school at Gar-Field specifically for the program.
"I heard from a lot of graduates that it [IB] definitely helps with your first year of college because the IB program has such a rigorous work load that you're already accustomed to that when you get into college," said Temory.
Coach Beemer considers himself fortunate that he has such talented athletes on his team in an environment where the top priority is school studies. He described the team before the addition of his number one and two seeded players –Temory and Gaddis respectively– as mediocre. And now with the addition of Daugherty, who is seeded at number three, he doesn't see any reason why the Indians can't achieve their goal of a championship.
"In this situation I couldn't imagine the grass being greener," commented Beemer. "The way that my girls are able to balance playing on a competitive team and still keep their grades up, I don't know how they do it. They work really hard. On some teams you usually have one or two strong players and everyone else just fits in, but we've been really fortunate to have two exceptional players, and my good players are seeded lower and are playing opponents that they are significantly better than."
Temory and Gaddis, who are also doubles partners, have both been accepted to Virginia Tech and plan to see each other around campus next year. They expect to at least play for the tennis club, if not for the actual team, but the focus will be to graduate with a degree in engineering.
As skilled as the players on the Gar-Field girls tennis team are, their clear priority is to make the most of their lives professionally, outside of sports, while also making a difference in the community and globally as well. With six of the thirteen players having a GPA over 4.0, they are clearly the definition of student athletes.
2011 Gar-field high school girls tennis roster
Player - Year
Mashal Temory - Senior
Alecia Gaddis - Senior
Megan Daugherty - Freshman
Alissa Patnode - Junior
Daphne Escueta - Sophomore
Stuti Kharel - Senior
Kristina Li - Senior
Laura Gatenby - Sophomore
Mersina Grljevic - Sophomore
Kimberly Porciuncula - Sophomore
Courtney Nguyen - Sophomore
Wei Low - Sophomore
Amanda Vellocido - Freshman
