It has been a decade since Jason Haynes started as the Lee College tennis coach and his past and current players have finally met one another.
On Friday night, the Lady Rebels and their newly inducted Hall of Fame coach hosted a dinner for the players to meet and greet each other. The dinner was a warmup to today’s exhibition between past and present players.
Along with getting to know each other, the players also discussed advice and expectations of the tennis program at Lee College, which has won three national titles under Haynes.
“I hope to get good advice from these girls,” freshman Georgina Stephenson said. “You can’t always tell what you are doing wrong on the court, so I hope that they can help us see what we are doing wrong.
“Meeting them also makes me want a ring even more. Everyone on the team obviously already wants one, but this just makes us even more hungry to achieve it.”
Some of the members on the current team already have a ring, as the Lady Rebels won the national tournament last springthis past year.
Francesca Bassoo is one of these players, and she is looking to repeat.
“I think that this whole thing is a great experience,” Bassoo said. “It’s great to see all these girls, and it’s great that we get to meet them.”
Being a sophomore, Bassoo not only seeks advice from others, but also speaks of her own experiences to her new team.
“Every time I get asked the question about the ring, I try to tell them the story of how we won the championship with six girls,” Bassoo said.
“I try to tell them how we came together as a team to win the national championship. I also try to tell them to keep their heads held high.
“Things didn’t always go our way last year, but we stayed positive.
“And as far as winning goes, I feel we have the potential to do it again. Getting a ring already has instilled confidence in me. And I feel that with this group of girls, we have the potential to be better than we were last year.”
Haynes is glad to see all his girls get together for the first time in 10 years. He sees this as a great opportunity for both his alums and current players.
“I hope that there will be a lot of interaction between this group of girls,” said Haynes, who was inducted into the NJCAA Coaching Hall of Fame after Lee College won its third national title in a decade last fall.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to get in,” Haynes said. “It is an accolade given to you by your peers, and I am glad to know my peers thought I deserved it.”
Haynes also received the coach of the national tournament award.
“I give all the credit to my first team for really kicking off my career, “ he said. “And it’s good to see some of them here tonight, talking to some of my current girls about their experience.”
In addition to the three national titles, Haynes’ teams placed second in four separate occasions.
“In the beginning, my goal was to go to a school that nobody had heard of, and make a program out of it. A lot of schools have teams, but they don’t have programs. I feel that we have a program.
“You can see it through our history, and you can see it tonight. Girls from all different years showed up for this dinner. And to me, them wanting to be here, them wanting to help out the new girls, makes our team a program.”
One of Haynes’ first players, Kristen Jobe Kohan, had one piece of advice for the girls now.
“Enjoy it while you have it,” Kohan said. “It doesn’t last long, and you will definitely miss it when it’s gone. Being part of this is a great foundation to life. It kept me grounded, and it should do the same thing for you.”