By: Neil Hay
A love of the game led Dan Fallon to the Allentown High School girls’ tennis team.
Fallon coached the Redbird netters last fall in the girls’ only campaign in the Shore Conference. Now he returns for a second season as Allentown begins play next month in the Colonial Valley Conference.
Fallon, beginning his fourth year at the high school as a history teacher, did not play college tennis but does play now recreationally. When the girls were lobbying to get approval for a tennis team a couple of years ago, Fallon gave them his support. And more.
"I enjoy playing tennis," explained Fallon of one of his reasons why he chose to coach this team. "This is a group of girls who worked hard and long to get the program going. I wanted to show my support for them by becoming their coach and working with them. It is a lot better when the coach is in the district."
Last year, the Redbirds’ first, Allentown was winless in 16 matches. That team had only one senior. Every undergraduate from 1999 is expected to return this fall. Many of the girls played over the summer.
As Fallon well knows, "The main thing is to get the girls to play year round. You can’t just pick up a racquet and go. It is a year-round sport you can play for years and years."
But not having their own courts – the team plays at Miry Run Country Club, about eight miles away – makes it a tougher test for the Redbirds.
"The learning curve for the girls is quite large. I want it to be fun for the girls. That is the primary goal. We went from nothing to playing on the varsity level against teams that have been around for 20 years. It is a big challenge to keep them enthusiastic when you don’t win. To my knowledge all the sophomores and juniors will return. Not all play (there are only seven varsity singles and doubles spots in each match) and we don’t have the luxury of our own courts."
Fallon enjoys tennis, and is enthusiastic about coaching and the upcoming season. But he has no illusions that the schedule is demanding.
"I know absolutely nothing" about the CVC. "We’ll work with the team and go from there. It is a competitive conference and we’ll try to be competitive too."
NOTES: Allentown will open the season with three away matches. Allentown will be at Trenton for a match Sept. 7, Princeton the following day and at West Windsor South on Sept. 11. Allentown’s first home match will be 3:45 p.m. Sept. 13 at Ewing.
