Before every match, the Santa Maria High School varsity girls’ tennis team participates in a unique ritual: The team huddles up, and head coach Ginny Barnett reads them a quote.
After reading the quote, Barnett passes out small slips of paper with the motivational words written on them and instructs the players to tuck them into their right shoe.
“I know they get nervous and start thinking about things they shouldn’t,” Barnett explained. “When their minds start to wander, they have something to focus on.”
At the Saints’ practice match against Pioneer Valley High School on Sept. 3, the team gathered around their coach for that day’s inspiration.
“Today our future begins. There is no looking back,” Barnett read aloud to her team of 12 players.
Those words held added significance at the team’s practice match, because this season will be Barnett’s last. After 23 years of leading the girls’ tennis program at SMHS, Barnett is stepping down as head varsity coach, but will continue
to teach physical education until she retires.
Barnett’s reason for stepping down is that in recent years coaching has become more complicated, she said. In the past, all she had to do was show up and coach, but now the restriction of resources has forced her to fundraise for equipment, which takes time and energy away from being on the court with the girls.
“I love coaching the girls,” she said, holding back tears. “Being on the court is the best part of the day.”
Surrounded by familiar faces, Barnett got emotional when she announced her decision at the annual SMHS alumni match on Sept. 1. Sixteen former players showed up to the match to support their alma mater and their coach.
Belle Villalovos-Smith graduated from SMHS in 1992 and came all the way from Nevada for the event. The first time she picked up a tennis racket was in high school, she said.
“She took the time to get to know me and get the best out of me,” Villalovos-Smith said about Barnett. “She made it so that I would love tennis.”
Now, 24 years later, Villalovos-Smith is a tennis instructor in Henderson, Nev., carrying on Barnett’s tradition of giving quotes to her players.
Like Villalovos-Smith, many of Barnett’s students never played tennis before high school. Anahi Sanchez, 17, is a senior on the varsity team, who started from scratch her freshman year.
“When I got here I didn’t know anything at all about serving or how to hit the ball,” she said.
Despite her beginner status, her coach saw Sanchez’s potential and taught her how to play the game, which over the years has boosted her confidence, Sanchez said.
“I would always be the shy person,” she said. “Tennis gave me more power.”
Along with teaching the game’s fundamentals, Barnett also provides donated shoes and rackets to the girls who need them.
“I see her as a second mom because she cares a lot about us,” said team captain, Jocelyn Gil.
Barnett’s effectiveness as a coach can be credited in part to the amount of time she’s put into it. She started coaching tennis more than 30 years ago in Fresno. Originally from Morro Bay, she moved from Fresno to Santa Maria in 1991 and took over the tennis team at SMHS.
This season, there are seven seniors and four juniors on varsity, and the team’s experience gives them of an edge going into the upcoming season, Barnett said. The team is gearing up for its first season game against Morro Bay High School on Sept. 11.
“She’s always really well prepared for practice,” assistant coach Sara Lourgee said. “She has something to do every minute.”
Although they now coach side by side, Lourgee and Barnett weren’t always on the same team. In college, the two coaches competed against each other in tennis and still laugh about it at practice, Lourgee said.
The Saints practice on their home court at the Minami Community Center for two hours every day after school, and Barnett doesn’t waste any time. Wearing her signature black visor and flip-flops, Barnett feeds tennis balls to her doubles teams, while they practice volleys, covering lobs and playing “queen of the court.”
Shoes screech against the court as players sprint to the baseline in an attempt to rally an overhead lob.
“She’s been an amazing coach,” said team captain, Leslie Huitron, who has played tennis every year of high school. “She taught us to never give up.”
One example of when the girls didn’t give up was when they played a tiebreaker with Morro Bay, Huitron remembers. Before the last set, Barnett read Huitron and her partner the quote of the game, and they ended up winning the match.
“My whole purpose of being out here is to be a positive role model,” Barnett said. “Everything I teach out here is a life lesson.”
Contact Staff Writer Aaron Salazar at asalazar@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 11-18, 2014.