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Tennis seniors back row: Jonah Smart, Madox Balmer, Dakota Sand. Front row: Jens Jensen, Saul Thomson, Max Sampson
Mora Tennis Head Coach Pete Balmer shares about the upcoming 2023 season:
Describe the makeup of your varsity team: We have an experienced team coming back. We only lost one senior last year and have 12 players that have gotten varsity match experience. Our team has six seniors that are great leaders including our four captains: Max Sampson, Madox Balmer, Jonah Smart and Saul Thomson.
What are your goals and/or priorities for the season? We have high goals this season. Daily we want to improve 10% every week. Team-wise, our goals are to finish at or near the top of the conference and Section. Senior Max Sampson was the first male tennis player ever in Mora to qualify for the State Tournament and our guys are motivated to add to that number as a team.Â
Who do you see as being a challenging competitor? Foley is the defending Granite Ridge Conference and Section 6A champions, so they will be tough along with Pine City and Totino Grace.Â
What would you like your young athletes to gain from being part of your team? We want our young athletes to have fun improving every day and to really fall in love with the game of tennis. It is a lifelong sport and hopefully, they are creating great friendships along the way.Â
Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your sports season? A fun fact about our team is that we have five sets of brothers playing this season. That really gives our team a family feel in a good and competitive way.Â
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.