Making a Racquet: Vogt Has Strong First Season at Father Tolton

USTA Missouri Valley is celebrating back to school by featuring coaches and teachers who make the game of tennis special for kids.

As the Father Tolton Catholic High School boys’ tennis team rode the bus from Columbia to Camdenton this past spring for their first match in nearly two years, a driving rainstorm seemed poised to wipe away the Trailblazers’ season-opener.

Tricia Vogt — the team’s first-year head coach — recalled speaking to her athletic director as the rain pelted the Trailblazers’ bus, unsure whether the program’s return to tennis would have to wait a little bit longer.

But after the Covid-19 pandemic caused the entire 2020 high school boys’ tennis season to be canceled, the Father Tolton student-athletes wouldn’t be denied. When they arrived at the facility, Camdenton’s coach suggested the match could be postponed and scheduled for a later date.

“No,” Vogt said. “The boys were there to play. We dried the courts. They won their first meet of the season and were so excited.”

That victory matched the total number of wins Father Tolton had accumulated the preceding 2019 season, as the Trailblazers jumped from a 1-13 record that year to a 5-5 record this past spring.

Vogt hopes the marked improvement continues into her second season as head coach, as her players as well as student-athletes from around the USTA Missouri prep for the coming 2021-2022 school year. Vogt said her first year at the helm of the program was special, and it will be challenging to duplicate the bond she forged with her six graduating seniors.

“I just needed those boys to help me so much,” Vogt said. “A lot has changed, and high school rules have changed since I played. It was just a team effort, all around. They helped me along with how to stay in touch with everybody. Even at meets, they helped pump me up. They knew it was my first year, and I was trying hard. I helped pump them up. I just don’t think I’ll have another year like that where it was such a connection between the seniors and me.”

Vogt said several of her players’ main sport was actually soccer. They carried over an aggressive mentality from that sport onto the tennis court.

“They just played so hard,” Vogt said. “The soccer boys play so differently, because it doesn’t cross their mind they might not be able to get to that ball. It just sometimes defies nature, some of the balls they could get to. I never told them they couldn’t, and they just went for everything. I was so amazed at them. I just thought they could do anything.”

A parent of one of the Father Tolton players worked with someone who had a connection to USTA Missouri Valley and mentioned to Vogt grant opportunities were available.  Several of Vogt’s student-athletes are underprivileged, so Vogt thought she’d give it a shot. She reached out to Michael Marotta — USTA Missouri and St. Louis tennis service representative — who asked how USTA Missouri Valley could help.

Vogt explained the school’s glaring need for tennis racquets, and Marotta got to work. Soon after their phone conversation, Marotta sent 35 racquets to Father Tolton with the instruction of getting the equipment to individuals in need. Vogt proceeded to let players from her program and the Father Tolton girls’ tennis program demo the racquets this summer, with the bulk of them already finding a home.

“The racquets were a godsend,” Vogt said. “Because we had racquets — I’m not kidding — they were warped. They wouldn’t lay flat on the court. This is not good. When Michael gave us those racquets, players were able to just experiment. Pick up a racquet, hit with it, go put it back. They were all labeled with the string tension and grip size. They have perfect fits now.”

Vogt said her more advanced players began hitting with additional pop and topspin once they found the proper string tension to match their game. A majority of the racquets  came ready to play, while a couple were not yet strung.

Vogt said many of her student-athletes and their parents have a difficult time affording quality equipment. Shoes were a problem this past spring, as one player who was wearing old track shoes rolled his ankle. None of the players had a tennis bag to carry their equipment in or a towel to wipe away their sweat.

One student-athlete — who lives with his aunt — couldn’t play this past spring with both of his parents working and unable to drive him to practice. Others who could play weren’t able to purchase tennis gear with money earmarked for athletics already tied up in cleats and additional soccer equipment.

Despite the obstacles, though, Vogt sees strides being made. Some of her players’ parents have begun hitting the tennis ball with their kids. That’s one way Vogt — who began playing tennis at the age of 10 — progressed in her own game.

Vogt previously participated in a USTA League in Columbia. Her nephew recently wanted to learn the sport, so Vogt began practicing with him. The two became regulars at the local tennis facility. Father Tolton’s girls’ tennis head coach, Kevin Kiley, noticed Vogt playing and recommended she apply for the vacant boys’ job.

As a club-level player Vogt said she grew up always playing tennis with boys, so that wasn’t a barrier for her. More free time had opened, too, as her other job as a math tutor at Columbia College slowed with students going virtual. Though it was last minute, Vogt felt she could be an asset and took the plunge.

She’s glad she did, as her inaugural season went well - with the six graduating seniors getting  a season and returning players got a tennis racquet to call their own.

“Michael really came through for us,” Vogt said. “It was pretty quick, too. They’re all really good racquets. That was so generous.”