Cougar sports lineup grows
Two new teams are joining the Cougar sports lineup. With funds from the university’s “I Will” campaign, MVNU is welcoming back the men’s and women’s tennis programs.
After receiving $800,000 through the Seek to Serve campaign MVNU got to work building courts and hiring a coach.
Adding the program is a response to what new coach Daniel Doan calls, “an ever-increasing sport of interest for many people.”
Sophomore Trent Tuttle is looking forward to participating in the new program.
“I played tennis all throughout high school and loved every moment of it,” Tuttle said. “I’m super excited for the new tennis program. I can’t wait for it to start up!”
Though MVNU will not have a full varsity squad this year, it is in the works for next year. For the 2016-17 school year, the program will operate as a club team.
“As the school year starts we will have consistent practices, clinics, and competitive events in which anyone interested in playing for the program can participate,” Doan said.
While competing at this level, Doan hopes to recruit athletes on and off campus and set the tone for the program.
“As a ‘club team,’ we will hopefully be able to scrimmage a couple of other schools by spring,” Doan said. Competing as a club team “gives us a lot of breathing room as an institution” and “a time period for player development and individual/group tryouts,” he said.
Athletic officials plan to move the program to varsity status by the 2017- 18 school year.
By spring, the teams should be playing on the tennis courts constructed across the street from the main entrance of campus. Meanwhile, play will take place on the Mount Vernon High School courts at Memorial Park, just across the road from the back entrance to campus.
For more information on joining the team, contact Doan via email at daniel.doan@mvnu.edu