Printer Friendly Version - East Haven Boys’ Tennis Trending Upward After Matching Win Total

The East Haven boys’ tennis team has a bright future ahead with several players returning after the Yellowjackets secured four wins to match their win count from a season ago. Photo courtesy of Jacob Callahan

Senior captain Shiv Patel was the No. 3 singles player for the Yellowjackets’ boys’ tennis squad this season and emerged from the campaign with the Team MVP award. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

While the East Haven boys’ tennis team may have seemingly not procured success on the surface by the outside observer’s viewpoint, a keen eye that delves deeper will see the Yellowjackets brought their best when it came to maturation and growth on and off the court.

Head Coach Jacob Callahan and East Haven finished the 2023 campaign with four victories in 20 matches for the regular season, equaling the number of team triumphs from a year ago. Still, on that feat alone, along with the synergy he saw amongst his squad–Callahan made remarks of great pride when it came to hitting targets for his team.

“Our goals for this season were simple,” said Callahan. “We wanted to tie or exceed our number of wins from last year, and we wanted to continue to build on the team bond that we were forming from the previous season. We were successful in accomplishing both of those.”

Speaking furthermore to the character and temperament of his players, regardless of match results, the one thing that was never a questionable matter to Callahan was the level of heart, hustle, and fortitude when it came to the boys and their efforts.

“Since I am a teacher at [East Haven High School] EHHS, I am fortunate enough to see the players on my team walking through the halls. I see them walking together, talking and laughing, and it makes me so happy to see that they are bonding on and off of the court,” Callahan said. “In terms of their overall development on the court, every kid has become a better tennis player than they were at the beginning of the season. They showed up to practice every single day, ready to learn, practice, and improve their game. I never had to pull players aside and talk to them about their commitment, because every kid was fully committed to the sport and improving their knowledge of it.”

When it came to memorable moments and instances from the actual court campaign itself, East Haven prevailed in doubles action for signature match victories against a nearby rival and another sound SCC competitor.

“Some of the major moments from this year were when my doubles teams won their matches against Branford and Xavier,” said Callahan. “Those are very good teams with solid players, so the fact that we were able to take a few points in the match away from them was an accomplishment. We also tied our win record from last year and managed to take more games in matches this year than we did last season.”

When it came to team hardware after the dust settled on the season, senior captain Shiv Patel earned Team MVP, while his classmate in Victor Unabia was named Most Consistent Player, and junior Jacob Ushchak garnered the Coach’s Award.

East Haven’s two captains this spring were junior Greg Vera and Patel. Their dedication not only to their own craft but additionally leading by example for the younger upstarts flowed through the remainder of the senior class, including some solid newcomers.

“They were the glue that held my team together this year. The kids looked up to them and they did not take their duties lightly,” said Callahan. “They knew they were held to a different standard and rose to the occasion, showing the kids what to do through their actions. They were great role models and made this season run more efficiently. My seniors were the same way. Victor Unabia has been a rock on the team for years, and his natural ability to lighten the mood was crucial during tough losses. I had three seniors, Amareen Singh, Kevin Vicuna, and Widman Vicura, join the team for the first time and they were also great role models. Even though they were new to the game and played on the junior varsity team, they showed the younger players that commitment and passion can carry you through the season.”

The Yellowjackets will part ways with only a duo of varsity players in Patel and Unabia, who played No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Despite the two leaving big shoes to fill, East Haven boasts a bevy of players with the fancy footwork to do just that with several swinging singles waiting in the wings to take flight.

“There are plenty of players who are ready to step into the singles game. I have a very young team, with half of the kids being in 9th and 10th grade,” Callahan said. “As long as the players keep up their training over the summer and progress at the level they have been during the season, we will be a force next year. I talked with one of my sophomores, Gustavo Flores-Soto, about his role on next year’s team. I have chosen him to be my junior captain and Vera will be my senior captain. Gustavo was my No. 4 singles this year but is ready to step up and challenge Greg for the number one spot. [Sophomores] Aedan Conners, Mateo Romero, and Matteo Martinez are also ready to make the jump from doubles play to singles, having been playing for two years. Their abilities and confidence in the game have improved during this past season, and I’m excited to see what next season will have in store for them.”

The 2023 East Haven boys’ tennis team roster is comprised of seniors Patel, Nathaniel Rivera, Singh, Unabia, Vicuna, Vicura; juniors of Jack Castillo, Ushchak, Vera; sophomores with Conners, Flores-Soto, Wilmer Guaman, Nicolas Lopez, Martinez, Mateo Romero, Justin Sieng, Valenzuela Tejeda, Justin Trudeau, Trevor Vaccino, Angel Vazquez; and finally freshmen Steve Condo and Angel Orozzo. Junior Lucas DeAntonio also travels with the team and competes in the Yellowjackets’ matches as a Team of One for North Branford High School. Callahan completed his second season as the Yellowjackets’ head coach.