Due to COVID-19, Senior Destiny Morado said she couldn’t play as much as she wanted to last year, but now for the fall season of the 2021-2022 school year she is back being varsity tennis captain along with seniors Naya Ben-Meir and Lily Miro. Morado has been playing tennis at Archer since ninth grade where she first started off on the junior varsity team. She moved up to varsity in tenth grade and for her final season has been named the captain and she is back on campus with her team and is ready to play this season.

Morado found more love for tennis when she first started in ninth grade at Archer and kept “working hard” any chance she got. She said that her love for tennis has grown since freshman year and she thinks being a captain this year has really demonstrated her growth in the sport. 

“I think my biggest motivation was competing with girls who have been playing for five to seven years and never letting that discourage me to keep going,” Morado said. “Being on this tennis team has definitely taught me to work hard and never give up on myself.”

Morado said that being back on campus has given her a foundation to be able to connect with her teammates. She said that seeing them every day, whether they are going to class, getting off the bus, meeting in the servery or even going across the street, has helped to develop a better connection for all of the team members.

“The other day, myself and a couple of other girls on the team went across the street just to get some lunch, it felt really good to just talk about tennis, talk about the game plan and connect,” Morado said.  “Also, being back on campus, in general, is nice.” 

Senior Naya Ben-Meir, one out of three co-captains on varsity, said that Morado is a great captain and team player. She gets her teammates ready for matches and instigates the cheers to make everyone feel included Ben-Meir said.

“She’s very supportive of the younger girls on varsity and I feel like she’s a very great voice between Paula, our tennis coach and Coach Streimer with the younger players,” Ben-Meir said.

Ben-Meir feels that Morado has the leadership skills that makes everyone “feel welcome on the team.”

“She acts as a really great voice for them and I think in general, we’re really lucky to have Destiny as part of the leadership on the tennis team because she just has a lot of energy and is always willing to give more,” Ben-Meir said.

Morado said that being a good captain is to not always be in the leadership position but to demonstrate the importance of working together as a team. She said that being a captain she has learned to take a step back and to not always have her guard up but instead to allow the upperclassmen to lead drills or warmups.

“I think it’s definitely an important skill to just be able to communicate properly, making sure that your voice is being heard, but also others are being heard,” Morado said.

Junior Sydney Frank met Morado during freshman year and has “loved” getting to know her over the past couple of seasons. She also said that Morado is an “amazing” leader because she makes an effort to connect with everyone on the team.

“If you need anyone to hype you up, or just make you laugh, she’s the girl for you,” Frank said. “She also is so good at motivating us to play our best as a team and is such a team player in general.”

Morado describes her tennis team as a “big group of sisters.” She said that everyone brings their different characteristics to the team which makes it “really special.”

“I’m smiling saying this but it just makes me so happy because we never have a dull moment–from Stephanie always goofing around on the court to the Frank sisters always being complete opposites–I just love both of them,” Morado said. “I love the energy that each and every one of those girls provides.”

Morado feels that  the team is her “rock.” She explains how everyone is there for one another and there is never a bad moment.

“The amount of support we provide for each other, whether it’s on or off the court, trying to help somebody academically, is incredible and heartwarming,” Morado said. “We’re always going to be there to support each other and that’s definitely something that I love most about our team.”