It’s not like other sports here in Albert Lea," said new boys tennis coach Neil Chalmers. "Tennis is an individual’s choice. There isn’t the high pressure, like wrestling, hockey, and soccer."

This year the boys tennis team is taking a different aspect of the game. Neil Chalmers, Geography teacher at Southwest Middle School and father of two daughters, has stepped onto the tennis courts once again, this time as the boys varsity head coach. When Chalmers started teaching he was in the Blue Earth school district. There, he was the varsity coach of the girls tennis team. He now is ready to take on the boys. There are 25 boys in grades 9-12 out for the team this year, several of whom are seniors.

"I think we will do pretty well this year," said senior varsity player Brian Reindl. "There are a lot of players returning from last season and they have worked hard during the off season."

Not knowing the skills of the athletes or how they play because this is Chalmers first year, he has had to do a lot of watching. He looks at how well the boys can play against their own teammates and who can play well together to fill both doubles and singles spots on the team. Playing challenge matches are one way Chalmers can compare players to see who plays well and how competitive they can be.

"For the first couple of weeks I have had the boys playing challenge matches," Chalmers said. "This is where they challenge their own teammates to get number one and two spots on the team."

This year Chalmers is making the boys do more conditioning and footwork drills in practice. There are days where they just hit the ball around, but he is working on keeping it fun for the guys and training them to be well-rounded tennis players. He feels it is important to build their strength and focus on the basics of tennis.

"I think Chalmers has had a great start coming out as a new coach, he is dedicated to the game and to our team," Reindl said.

Chalmers’ goal as head coach is to find coaches who can make this sport fun for the boys. Tom Dyrdal was hired as the Southwest Middle School coach this year. Dyrdals’ main goal is to prepare the players for high school; Dyrdal works with Coach Chalmers in communicating what skills to equip the young athletes with. He continues to work to develop the program. Wayne Prudoehl is another coach assisting Chalmers this year. He has had experience over the years with both girls and boys tennis.

"Wayne has as much tennis knowledge as anyone I’ve ever met," Chalmers said.

The hardest part of coaching for Chalmers has been the fact that he is a teacher at Southwest. He isn’t at the high school every day seeing what goes on in the tennis players’ minds. Practice starts at 4 p.m. everyday and when he arrives he expects the tennis players to be focused on tennis.

"I keep thinking about prom week," Chalmers said. "The boys are going to be thinking about prom and when I come at four for practice those boys aren’t going to be prepared for practice."

It doesn’t matter how good or bad you think you are, tennis is a sport that everyone has the chance to play, because it’s a life long sport. Most kids can go out and just play with no expectations.

"We ask for them to come out and give it their absolute best," Chalmers said.

It is only the beginning of the season but this year’s varsity team is setting high standards for not only this year, but for the following years ahead. Chalmers has a challenge ahead of him, replacing Coach Sean Gillam after five years, and he hopes to benefit the program.

"I think Gillam made a choice for the best interest of everyone involved," Chalmers said. "Being the head coach of one sport is hard enough and for him to do three of them, I can’t even imagine."

He is excited for this season and the many to come ahead of him. Chalmers hopes that these boys can learn from him and share the experience with the younger athletes too.

"With tennis, the sky is blue, the grass is green and it’s a great day to be alive," Chalmers said. "We come out and hit a ball around for a few hours and the kids just have a lot of fun."