Silva Franco Shines

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are featuring Julio Silva Franco, a tennis player at Bryan High School in Omaha.

Bryan senior Julio Silva Franco is taking in every moment of his last year of high school tennis. Mostly because he wasn’t able to compete in the tennis season last fall when Omaha Public Schools made the decision to cancel fall sports, because of COVID. But instead of letting it get him down, he made the most of his time getting ready for the 2021 season.

“I was really bummed out for missing out on my junior season, but that only meant I had another year to put in the work,” he said. “Covid didn’t stop me from training, I’d say it did the exact opposite.”

All that work paid off as Silva Franco is playing in the top spot, number one singles, which can be challenging as he must play some of the top players in the state.

“I used to love doubles but now that my seniors have graduated, singles is the only game for me since it keeps me focused on what I want to accomplish.”

He started playing tennis in eighth grade when he would play for fun with some friends who already played at Bryan. Since they made it fun, he decided to try out his freshman year. Now, as a senior, he has some goals to accomplish before he graduates.

“My goal tennis-wise is to compete against the best school, and show that a school like Bryan can compete against the best of them,” he explained. “Demonstrating that an underdog can come out as a threat really hypes me up to do better.”

His favorite part about high school tennis is his teammates and the close friendships they have formed. One last thing he wants to do is put Bryan on the map for high school tennis.

“I want to make people remember we aren’t weak. We compete and we always give it our all. We may not be ranked among the top teams this year, or the next, but we will come back on top later on.” 

Boys state tennis will be Oct. 14-15 in Omaha (class A) and Lincoln (class B).