The word dynasty seems almost like an understatement these days for the Collingwood and Sentinel tennis teams.
The Collingwood Cavaliers won their seventh straight provincial AA banner while the Sentinel Spartans claimed their sixth consecutive AAA B.C. title at this season's championship tournaments played at the end of May.
For the Cavaliers the dominance is even more impressive — they've made the final in each of the past nine years, winning eight of them.
"It's been a good run," said Collingwood's Al Rose, co-coach along with Andy Wong.
The Cavs were led by Grade 9 star Isaac Davies — he went undefeated in the championship tournament to win the outstanding boys singles player award — and the doubles team of Colton Kerfoot and Liam Huebner who also notched a perfect record while taking home the tournament's top boys doubles team award.
Davies is one of the top-ranked junior players in the province while Kerfoot is continuing a long tradition of elite hockey players moonlighting on the Collingwood tennis team. Other Cavalier tennis alumni include Sam Reinhart, a potential No. 1 overall pick in this year's NHL draft, and Alexander Kerfoot, Colton's older brother who was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 2012.
"They like their tennis too," said Rose with a laugh.
"They're both just great all-around athletes," Rose said of the Kerfoot brothers. "They can do anything. You can see it on the court. . . . Because they played other sports they're just used to those high-pressure situations. They can succeed in that and in fact I think they revel in it."
Reinhart was the same way, says Rose, despite playing the sport only sporadically. "He knew where to go, when to be there, and when he got there it didn't matter what the situation was as far as pressure goes, he just came through in the clutch all the time. It was like he had ice in his veins."
This year's Collingwood tennis team, as usual, featured a number of athletes who star in different sports but were ready to give their all on the hard courts as well.
"Really good depth from top to bottom, great commitment from all the kids," Rose said of the secret to his success. "I always encourage them to play all the sports, but if you can we'd like you to make sure you're here for our tennis matches."
Collingwood's run, however, will be threatened in future years by the team they faced in this year's final, said Rose. It's a North Shore rival to boot. The Cavaliers topped Carson Graham 8-3 in the AA championship final but it was no blow-out, said Rose, and the young Eagles are only getting better.
"Carson Graham is an excellent young team and they're all going to be back next year," he said. "They're solid, top to bottom. They've got some good players and they've done an excellent job with their team."
Carson is coached by the husband and wife team of Fabio and Amy Walker, top-notch players themselves, and stars the duo's daughters Angie and Alex, said Rose. Grade 10 Angie Walker won all of her matches at provincials to claim the outstanding girls singles player award.
The Collingwood vs. Carson showdown should only intensify in future years, said Rose. “We’re going to be back, and I know they’ll be back,” he said. “It looks like a real good rivalry.”
As for Sentinel, the Spartans, coached by Dave Gibson, Angela Higgs and Anthony Cheung, claimed their sixth straight title with an 8-3 win over Heritage Woods in the AAA final. Dominique Beauvais and Kryrll Kryvchun led the way, winning the outstanding girl and boy awards, respectively, while also teaming up to win the mixed doubles MVP award. The team of Arisha Ladhani and Stacy Fung claimed the girls doubles MVP award.
Sentinel, like Collingwood, also gets strong participation numbers in their tennis program. According to Cheung, nearly 50 players participated this season, making up one senior team and two junior teams.
