By: Ken Weingartner
As the curtain prepares to fall on Darren Goldberg’s final week as a member of the Monroe High boys tennis team, the senior is already thinking about it rising again in the fall.
Goldberg plans to attend Syracuse University and major in political science, with designs on going to law school and entering entertainment law in the future.
"I’m sure my mind will change, though," Goldberg said with a laugh. "Maybe not, but I’m open to that. It’s hard picking what you want to do for the rest of your life. I’m interested in entertainment and law, so for now that seems to be the perfect place for me."
If down the road Goldberg ever needs to negotiate a contract over a game of tennis, he’s bound to be a winner. He has gone 14-3 at second singles for the Falcons this season after posting an 18-1 mark at third singles a year ago.
Monroe suffered a disappointing 5-0 loss Wednesday to Hopewell Valley in the quarterfinals of the Central Jersey Group III team tournament, dropping to 14-4, but can better last season’s 15-6 record by winning at least two of its final three matches. The Falcons were scheduled to face Carteret yesterday and play North Brunswick Monday and South Plainfield Wednesday.
"I didn’t know how it would feel, the season coming to an end," Goldberg said. "It’s weird. On one hand, I’m looking forward to it because it’s something we accomplished. Most likely, I won’t play in college. I’ll play intramurals, but that won’t be the same as far as being competitive. It’s cool playing for your high school and hearing your name during the announcements when you win. I will miss it. It’s sad."
Despite the sadness, Goldberg and fellow senior Ken Stanley, who plays first singles, can leave with a sense of pride after helping Monroe to two of the best seasons in its history.
"I’ll remember two things," Goldberg said. "The first is my friends; when you’re competitive and playing with friends, that’s a great feeling. Second is my record and making all division last year; knowing that I wasn’t only playing, but I accomplished something. That was definitely a big surprise. You can’t win them all, but I tried my hardest, that’s for sure. I wasn’t just on the team, I helped contribute to it."
Earlier this week, Monroe beat Woodbridge 4-1. Stanley and Goldberg had wins, as did Jasmin Laferriere at third singles and sophomores Matt Sepe-Kevin Murtha at first doubles.
Add in the second doubles team of sophomore Lov Patel and freshman Sam Saxena, plus players who will have benefited from the school’s first full season of junior varsity action, and the future looks bright.
"The direction the program is going is great," Goldberg said. "It’s hard to just throw people into the competitive level without having experience. Having a jayvee team and coach really helps the program; it gives them more experience so that when they hit varsity they’re better prepared for it.
"Jasmin did well on varsity this year and the doubles did well, too. Now they have experience and they should be really good next year."
The curtain will soon fall. But it will rise again.
