After four years of hard work, Ariel Brown has just finished her final season of tennis for Armijo High School. Shes come a long way since her freshman year, serving as one of the captains for the 2019 season. Four years of playing on the Armijo team “taught me the value of passion and hard work…”she said. “I never believed that I could be good at tennis when I first started because I was behind all of the girls who had been playing since before high school. I thought that I wasn’t coordinated enough, among other things, but I fell in love with the sport and competition, so I worked really hard to get to the point which I’m at now.”

The joy that she has for the sport is evident as she talked about everything from the wonderful bond with her teammates to the perfect moment the ball hits the racket and “soars beautifully.” But she didn’t become amazing overnight. Everyone has challenges, especially when starting something new. She especially mentioned having trouble with accepting defeat. “I’ll admit, handling competition has definitely been a learning experience for me,” she said. “It is definitely difficult in tennis because competition varies so greatly. Everyone has different playing styles.

Most importantly though, I would say that whether you are winning or losing, you must handle your competition with respect.” After everything shes learned, Brown had some advice to share with future athletes. “Just do it. Armijo gives such a wonderful opportunity for those wanting to play tennis because there are no try outs and anyone can join the exhibition team,” she said.

“My second piece of advice is to do some research and practice. You don’t have to be coached to get good enough to play tennis at an enjoyable level. If you do a little research online and find a partner, you will be able to hit decent rallies in no time. That’s all I did for three years, researched and then practiced.”

While this is the end of her high school career, she doesn’t plan to quit playing tennis any time soon. ”I love this sport more than any other, and I intend to play it until I physically cannot. I probably won’t play much more competitively, but I will always find time to play recreational tennis.”