After decades of playing in the spring, Iowa high school girls tennis will be moved to the fall starting in the 2025-2026 school year. The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) have been collaborating to make this switch possible.
The goal of this semi-major change was to reduce the congestion of high school spring sports. Currently, eight sports occupy the spring season: golf, soccer, tennis, and track and field for both boys and girls. The IHSAA and IGHSAU decided that the solution to this overbooking of activities would be to move girls tennis.
“Our member schools have been asking for ways to relieve the crowded spring sports seasons for years. The new changes provide relief in an already busy spring, and an opportunity for the IGHSAU and IHSAA to enhance the state tournament experiences for tennis.” Erin Gerlich, IGHSAU executive director, said.
This idea of switching the girls tennis season was inspired and modeled by other states around the nation and in the Midwest.
“Other Midwest states have found success with this model and I am confident our schools will adjust to the new format … while we recognize some of the initial challenges, the advantages of reducing scheduling congestion in the spring led us in this direction.” Tom Keating, IHSAA executive director, said.
Since ADM doesn’t have its own tennis program, students can head down the road to compete for Waukee as part of its team. Girls Waukee head tennis coach, Jill Parker, is enthusiastic about tennis moving to the fall. It is Parker’s first year as head coach, and she feels that the season is going very well so far.
“I’m grateful for a good group that works hard, has fun, and is very receptive to feedback. I’ve been very blessed with the group of girls and they’ve been fun to coach.” Parker said.
When asked about her feelings about the new schedule, Coach Parker said nothing but good things.
“I’m really looking forward to that because the fall weather will be a lot better for tennis. We will have to adjust to it being hotter since we’re starting in August, but it will be fun to have it in the fall and I think the players and I will enjoy that.” Parker said.
Additionally, Coach Parker is looking forward to the quick turnaround between this spring’s season and next fall’s season.
“We don’t have much time off, but I actually see it as a positive because then we won’t be as rusty. We’ll already feel warmed up and ready to go, so I think it might work to our advantage that we don’t have lots of months off in between.” Parker said.
Although tennis switching seasons was good news for some, it is a major problem for others. Tennis players are being forced to choose between playing tennis or sticking with fall sports they’re also involved in. When asked about how she felt about the season switching times, tennis player and cheerleader Brooklyn Beebe shared her dismay.
“I don’t like it because I can’t play tennis during the fall because I have cheer. But during the spring, I don’t have anything, so it’s the perfect time to play. I’m so sad that we can’t have it during the spring again because it’s so fun and I want to continue playing, but I just can’t because I have to do cheer. ” Beebe said.
Likewise, Cora Hall, a first-year tennis player trying it out for fun, expressed that she was not pleased about tennis moving to the fall.
“I don’t love it because it makes me have to choose between tennis and volleyball, and I’m gonna choose volleyball even though I’m really enjoying tennis. I’m not even given the opportunity to play tennis again next year because I’m gonna be playing volleyball. It kinda bums me out.” Hall said.
All this being said, there are clearly varying perspectives and opinions on the issue of girls tennis being moved. Only time will reveal if this transition will be effective in fixing scheduling problems or it will just make the activities calendar even more complicated and difficult to navigate. Nonetheless, Coach Parker, on behalf of the girls tennis team, remains hopeful for the fall tennis seasons to come.
“I didn’t know that we would experience it but I’m grateful … I was surprised because I thought it would never happen, but I think it’ll be good.”
