Francisco “Paco” Munoz began his first year as head coach of St. Ed’s boys and girls tennis teams with a rather unconventional plan to familiarize himself with his new players and build a competitive program as the season progressed.
The new coach allowed the kids to tell him what they knew about each other before he gradually took charge in shaping the singles and doubles lineups.
“I wanted to use the first four matches to get to know the players,” Munoz said. “I let the girls tell me who the best players were. Then we did a little round robin to determine one through five for singles. We decided the doubles teams would be six and seven together, and eight and nine together. So actually from the top 10 we had a full team.
“I told the boys that as long as you are going to tell me who the top players are, just prove it to me during the round robin – where you are going to fight and earn your spots in matches. We decided on one through five for singles with six and seven playing with the top two in doubles.
“Then we got into the middle of the season and that was the time for the coach to make some decisions,” Munoz continued. “I think the teams are doing very well. They should feel no pressure at all because as their coach all I’m doing is making little adjustments. That’s all part of getting to know each other.”
Going into spring break last week the boys were 4-4 and had a three match winning streak. The girls were 3-6 after handling district opponent Jupiter Christian with relative ease for the second time.
The boys one through five singles rotation vs. Jupiter Christian was John Atwater, Juan Torres, Jonathan Temple, Nicholas Bespolka and Shayhaan Shaikh. The doubles teams were Torres-Temple and Shaikh-Alex Harper.
The girls one through five was Jasmine Jaffe, Sienna Bespolka, Caitlin Carrick, Ryan Deri and Olivia Oriaku. The doubles teams were Nicole Alden-Katie Deri and Clara Masseau-Sophia Oriaku.
Those were the most recent lineups as the teams headed into the home stretch this week. A Senior Night match with Vero Beach High this Friday concludes the regular season. The district playoffs are scheduled for March 29 and 30.
“This is a learning process and now we have to think about how to compete the rest of the way,” Munoz told us. “The other schools have some very good players. I want our players to be able to learn how to solve problems and have a Plan A and Plan B during the matches – instead of saying they didn’t know what to do.
“If they show me they can learn those things, I will be satisfied. Whether you win or lose, it’s more about learning how to solve problems. If you do that you will learn lessons about how to handle various situations that will last a lifetime.”
Munoz knows about that all too well. Now just shy of his 40th birthday, he was critically injured in a two-car crash a year ago and has yet to fully recover (see Feb. 25 issue of Vero Beach 32963). He is thankful to be back doing what he loves.
“I was the coach at Master’s Academy for three years and that’s how I met Alet Filmalter. She was the tennis coach at St. Edward’s and she invited me over to Orchid Island – and that’s where I work now. She said she wanted to go in a different direction and introduced me to (St. Ed’s) athletic director Jeff Lamscha. We had an interview, he liked my resume, and offered me the job.
“This has been a fun transition for me and one with adventure. I’m working with seniors and teenagers at the same time. I’m from Cozumel, Mexico, and when I was 15 years old I earned a scholarship in swimming – nothing to do with tennis. Then I decided I wanted to be a teacher, do physical therapy, and I started working with tennis players.
“I went to Barcelona, Spain, to get my master’s degree and stayed there for seven years. I worked with tennis professionals for ten years and traveled all over with them. I eventually said that’s enough for me. I was in Naples, Florida, for two years, went to San Antonio, Texas, and wound up in Vero Beach.
“This is my fourth year in Vero Beach. I love it here. I always wanted to be in a place near the ocean, and be around a bunch of happy people. The people are great here and I like it here very much.”
