Now presenting, Athletes of West, a podcast featuring a unique Longhorn athlete each session.​​ We bring you stories from the players, both on the ground and behind the scenes, covering individual accomplishments, records they set and break, endurance and fitness, sports leadership, and many more. Stay tuned!! 

In this episode, meet senior Drew Boone, Captain of the Varsity tennis team.  Listen on to learn about the secret behind his leadership.

Transcript

Raj Jaladi  00:00

I’m Raj Jaladi. And you’re listening to athletes of West a podcast brought to you by the Pathfinder. Joined by varsity tennis Captain Drew Boone drew what is it like to be the captain of the tennis team?

Drew Boone  00:17

I feel like it is a lot of responsibility and making sure that all of our guys are doing the right thing and being the best leader you can be for the team to have a successful season.

Raj Jaladi  00:35

And what are some of the proudest moments that you’ve had? Or maybe the team has had this season?

Drew Boone  00:41

This season? I would say when me and Maxim we were first placed in the Francis Howell  Central doubles tournament, when me and Raj beat Central’s number one doubles team in districts. That was a fun match. And, just spending time with the guys at Woods Mill and practicing and hitting every day together.

Raj Jaladi  01:06

What are some of the keys to your success as the team captain?

Drew Boone  01:16

Keys to my success would be having a good relationship with the coach, I think for any captain, that’s huge because the relationship you hold with the coach will really dictate how the team views you how the head coach views you, and just how your season’s going to run. So I’d say just being a good leader, for your teammates, but also being there for the coach.

Raj Jaladi  01:42

What are some of the responsibilities you carried as the team’s lead?

Drew Boone  01:47

So it was mostly, that I had more responsibilities this year than I had in previous years with our coach being gone. So usually, in a normal season, I would lead warm-ups and I would help Coach Mac, get the balls out set up practices, talk to her about lineups, who we want, where instead of all over, after events, like team dinners and stuff, but this year she wasn’t here. I was making core reservations for us at Woods Mill. Because we didn’t have our courts to play on. I was hoping we’d practice, and lead warm-ups. And just answering any questions you guys had throughout the season.

Raj Jaladi  02:24

And you also played basketball as a freshman and sophomore. So how was that switch? 

Drew Boone  02:33

So basketball was a lot more demanding than tennis was. Basketball was every day, three hours of cardio took a huge toll on my body. It was fun. It was a very different environment than tennis that’s for sure. Between the guys and the sport itself and the coaching. It was a sport that I loved, but it was very demanding at times. 

Raj Jaladi  03:01

What does sports leadership mean to you?

Drew Boone  03:06

I think any good team should have a good captain or a good leader on it. That’s what makes it function because any team can have a coach but when you have a student or somebody that you’re playing alongside, that’s leading, I think that just adds that much more to the experience of the game and the outcome of it.

Raj Jaladi  03:25

So obviously, I know I can relate, but I don’t know if it’s any different as also being a team captain, how do you, deal with pressure, and situations and moments that are stressful

Drew Boone  03:39

Honestly, I don’t really let it get to me, I’ve been in some big situations between basketball and other sports where it was like the game-winning point, or I’m in with like 20 seconds left on the clock, which I mean, it really varies on the sport, in my opinion, too. Because in tennis, you control the whole game yourself. Not in a team sport like basketball where you have to rely on your teammates to also contribute to along with what you’re doing. But I just like to just focus on the moment, focus on at one point in time, and just really, call myself and slow down on what I’m doing just to make sure I get it right.

Raj Jaladi  04:19

Yeah, I’m making this question up on the spot. But I feel like a lot of people are curious about this as this to the court situation. Was it pre-planned that we wouldn’t have courts for the season or what was that situation?

Drew Boone  04:30

So they thought we would have them in time but for courts to be played on properly it takes five to six days above 70 degrees I think it was so we didn’t have that from the span of October to April or end of February so that’s why we were unlucky didn’t have any courts but we were able to play inside, which is like two minutes away and which was a good time.

Raj Jaladi  05:00

And so how do you create balance between sports and leadership roles that you took upon and also academics?

Drew Boone  05:09

I would say it’s a lot of prioritizing. We got to act like this year. So using utilizing all the time we have to get your academic stuff done, get stuff done that you don’t have to, that you can do in school that they signed for you out of school, and then just taking being that leader on the team, just taking that one day at a time seeing what tasks need to be completed for the day, along with playing the sport itself.

Raj Jaladi  05:43

What do you do to relieve stress and relax?

Drew Boone  05:48

What do I do? What’s your answer? Do you want to hear Raj? I’m just kidding. Honestly, I like listening to music that really relaxes me. Just taking time to myself just to watch TV, you watch a good movie or something like that, not worrying about sports or school or anything like that, or just going out, like distracting yourself with other things.

Raj Jaladi  06:12

What is your goal in terms of life and career?

Drew Boone  06:17

My goals in terms of life, so I’m going to Mizzou for the next four years, probably to play club tennis up there. So that’ll be a fun time. I’m going to study business and then see where that takes me after there.

Raj Jaladi  06:32

And what is your advice to other maybe team leaders or players that aspire to be like you

Drew Boone  06:39

I would say the advice I would give to them is never really lose yourself and who in what you’ve liked doing, you can get really swept up in a sport very easily that you should always remember there’s a balance between everything. On the leadership end, if you want to be a good leader always have that good relationship with your coach and the adults while and it’s important to have like a good relationship with your players. But the coach is really what makes or breaks the team and what you’re doing and how practices run and everything like that.

Raj Jaladi  07:12

Well, Drew, it was great to learn more about you, congratulations on getting into Mizzou, and good luck.

Drew Boone  07:22

Thank you Roj. It’s been an honor being your doubles.

Raj Jaladi  07:27

This podcast concludes our series of Athletes of West for this year. Thank you so much for listening