Before starting varsity tennis, junior Liam Darcy said he was a little wary because the game was unfamiliar to him. But over the years, Darcy has progressed in tennis and become more familiar with it.
Darcy enjoys the community he has on the tennis team because of the mutual respect they share for one another. Darcy plays doubles for tennis, and he said he gets along well with senior Daniel Facundo-Mehrer, his doubles partner.
According to Darcy, his team captain, senior Jeffrey Boknecht, was a major role model for him. His good friend and fellow teammate junior River Nichols, has also taught him a lot about the sport. Especially as they “play together outside of tennis,” he said.
Nichols and Boknecht have a very direct coaching style that Darcy considers helpful for him.
Though he has many friends on his tennis team, Darcy said he is closest to the two of them. He has known Nichols since kindergarten and only recently met Boknecht through tennis.
“Something that’s really helped me through high school was our relationship,” he said, appreciative that he got the chance to become acquainted with Boknecht.
For Darcy, he considers his role in tennis to be bringing his teammates together, and “kind of building bridges between people that might not know each other,” he said.
In order to focus during tennis matches, Darcy often tells himself that the game is not over every time he loses a point in a match. Darcy deals with stress a lot while he is playing tennis, so he manages it by becoming more grounded.
“[One thing] that I’ve been learning how to do is just breathe, focusing on what’s happening right at the moment,” he said.
“I’ve got to stay focused on the moment — what’s happening right then,” he said.
Beginning his tennis journey in eighth grade Darcy started it all when he decided to take classes at the Portland Tennis Center. He’s now played tennis for four years and plans to continue playing in the future.
“You see a bunch of old people playing tennis all the time, so I feel like it’s something I’m going to do until I’m like 80,” he said.
In comparison to a few years ago, Darcy said his team has made significant progress, winning the boys tennis 5A state championship this year. He plans to keep up his current work ethic, and he hopes to be a good role model for younger students interested in pursuing tennis.
Darcy believes that the tennis team has helped him personally in many ways, “and it also helps me get outside, which kind of makes me happy in general,” he said.
Prioritizing his responsibilities over fun, Darcy aims to get his homework done right after practice ends, and though he often deals with procrastination, he’s learned to overcome it.
Although his homework schedule is sometimes tough, Darcy finds the workload worth it so that he can be prepared for the college experience where things will get tougher. According to him, one way he and his teammates stay on top of their work is they stay after school before practice to work on homework.
He attributed being able to maintain this balance between academics and tennis to the help and understanding of his coaches and teachers.
Darcy’s favorite tennis memory is when he went on a trip to Eugene, Oregon with the tennis team, saying that it was a good way to bond with his teammates.
Listening to songs by Travis Scott helps him prepare before his next matches, while his post-match routine usually involves reading a book to relax.
Other than tennis, Darcy has been working at the Oregon Humane Society for five years. He also hangs out with friends, hikes, and plays tennis with them.
At La Salle, he is on the student government executive council for leadership and volunteers with the Special Olympics, a program that allows people with intellectual disabilities to participate in competitive sports.
Darcy’s connection to the Special Olympics was his mom, who already had experience with the organization.
In the future, he said that one of his biggest goals is “to just travel and experience other cultures.” In the past, he has visited Japan and is planning to go to Spain this summer with students from La Salle’s Spanish program. He’s had good experiences in other countries since he likes meeting people who live different lives than him, and he also likes to find out more about the world.
Darcy said tennis has helped his determination for school because he believes the toughness of losing a game is similar to dealing with school problems.
To those interested in beginning tennis, Darcy gives the advice not to expect perfection from the start.
“The best thing you can do is play with people that are better than you, because you can always get better by doing that,” he said.
