WHEN you cover sports in one area for a few years you notice a few stories popping up again and again, year after year.
Now that it's the first week of June, it's time to write one of those annual stories - the dominance of the tennis programs at West Vancouver schools Collingwood and Sentinel. Last week the teams both continued their reigns at the top of the high school tennis world with Collingwood earning their sixth straight provincial AA title and Sentinel claiming their fifth consecutive B.C. AAA championship.
The dynasties may leave a reporter scrambling for new angles but the real story here is continued excellence and commitment from a pair of schools that have figured out how to harness the natural tennis talent found on the North Shore and make the game an integral part of their sports program.
"We make it a big deal at the school here - our tennis team at Collingwood is well-recognized," said Cavaliers head coach Al Rose. "If you can make it important for the kids and they can see the value in it, they usually fall in love with it."
Sentinel, meanwhile, has been the standard bearer for a decade now - they've won the North Shore title 10 years in a row to go with their five-straight B.C. titles - and coach Anthony Cheung said the sport is still growing in popularity at the school.
"I think the great thing this year is that I've seen more kids involved," he said. "I carry a big team of about 21 players going to provincials and I can put in any of them and they can still play and do the job. . . . I have more and more teachers helping out too. There's a general buzz about playing tennis in the school. Seeing the kids coming out and playing in the morning or at lunchtime - it's fun."
Sentinel earned this year's B.C. championship with an 8-3 win over the combined St. George's/Crofton House team in the final held at Langley Events Centre. Championship MVP players have not yet been chosen but the Spartans were led by Grade 11 girls' singles player Dominique Beauvais, who won all of her matches at the provincial championships, as well as the boys' doubles team of Grade 12 player Roy Cheng and Grade 11 Daniel Raw who also were perfect at the tournament.
Coach Cheung said his team has an interesting blend of highly skilled players that he can just pencil in and let them go as well as mid-level and entry-level players that learn and grow during their time on the team. The school also boasts a tennis academy that brings in players who are not always superstars but are definitely passionate about the sport.
The academy, combined with the team's success over the last several years, make Sentinel a sought-out destination for tennis playing students.
"We bring in a lot of kids who are interested in playing tennis," said Cheung. "When other players see there's a good team they try to enroll in the school too."
At the AA level Collingwood's championship win came in thrilling fashion over a very familiar rival. The Cavaliers beat Brentwood College 6-5 in the final, needing a win from the mixed doubles team of Iacopo Beltramo and Kyla Jarrar in the 11th and final match.
"The whole court was ringed with kids from both teams and parents and other spectators watching the game," said Rose. "It was quite exciting."
In the end the Collingwood duo, two of the team's best players, were far too strong for their opponents, whipping up a 6-0 victory to win the match and clinch the championship. This was the fourth straight time that Collingwood has defeated Brentwood in the final and this was the toughest fight yet.
"This was their chance to get us," said Rose, adding that Brentwood had several graduating players on their team. "A lot of those kids have lost to us for four straight years and every year it's gotten closer and closer and closer. This was the closest one. They were a very classy team, very gracious in defeat, great sportsmanship. I'm sure they were hurting but they were very classy in defeat. It's not easy for them but they deserve a lot of credit too - they did very, very well."
The Collingwood kids, champions so many times, were happy to be pushed to the edge in this year's final.
"They were thrilled because it was so tight and the kids knew that this would be a real competitive match," said Rose. Beltramo was named the boys' singles MVP while Jarrar earned girls' singles MVP honours. MVP awards also went to the girls' doubles team of Hailey Reeves and Tomoe Yazawa and the mixed doubles team of Alex Oubari and Jarrar.
There's a lot of tennis talent that lands on the Collingwood doorstep but the team atmosphere gets players fired up and sometimes even keeps them interested in the sport, said Rose.
"A lot of the kids have told me that when they were in Grade 7 or 8 they were going to quit tennis, they didn't like it anymore, it was too stressful and they wanted to do other things. I tell them to just give the team concept a try for a year and see if you like it. Some of those kids have gone on to big success."
So who wins when these two powerhouse West Vancouver programs collide? The answer, almost always, is Sentinel, and Al Rose is OK with that. He, in fact coached the Sutherland team that was the last to beat Sentinel for the North Shore title way back in 2003. The level of tennis on the North Shore is high, which helps all of the teams improve, said Rose, adding that his team in particular gets fired up every time they play the Spartans.
"Just having Sentinel to play against, even though they beat us almost every time, is still great for our kids," he said. "Sentinel is stacked, they've got top players in B.C. right through their lineup."
Collingwood obviously has some great players as well. It's a story that may sound similar every year but, for all those players who keep the Sentinel and Collingwood trophy cases stocked, it's one that never gets old.
