For sophomore Julian Herrera, tennis seemed like a fun sport to try as a freshman. Little did he know, he would be playing varsity tennis for La Salle a year later.

Starting a sport during COVID-19 is a difficult roadblock to overcome because of the restrictions on practices and games. “Starting something new [and] being fresh, it’s a learning curve, and I’m still learning to this day,” Herrera said.

“It feels good to win, especially if everyone on the team won,” Herrera said. “If I lose a match, but my school won overall, it’s a little sad because I didn’t support, but if we overall lost, we try to look [at] how we lost so we can become better.”

Herrera is a multi-sport athlete, playing both tennis and football for La Salle. 

“My friend brought me to the [football] coach and convinced me to play,” Herrera said. “A lot of my friends were playing at the time, so I just joined.” However, Herrera joined the tennis team not knowing many people. “I knew some of the people, [but] you make friends along the way,” he said.

Herrera’s coaches at La Salle for varsity tennis are head coach Mike Stone and assistant coach Mr. David Lane, who also teaches German. “They both help by improving our form and showing us techniques on how to become better [players],” Herrera said.

Herrera said he will most likely continue to play all four years of high school. “I picked up tennis here at La Salle my freshman year and I just liked it,” he said. 

Herrera went to St. Ignatius from kindergarten through 8th grade, and chose to attend La Salle because he had friends attending and he “liked the environment.”

At La Salle, Herrera enjoys Mr. Matthew Owen’s Honors Chemistry class. “It’s challenging, but it’s still fun to do and you get to learn interesting things,” he said. Herrera is also currently taking French 2 and plans to continue French in his junior year. 

As for his future beyond high school tennis, Herrera has no current intentions to play in college. “I hope to remember a lot of fun times at practices and games with my friends, and some of the good memories of matches. Some tough competitions but also wins,” Herrera said.

Herrera lives by the motto, “The master in everything was once a beginner.”