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SPORTS
Appleton, Wisconsin September 2016 Volume XXll
Issue I Page 11
Girls’ swim team hires new assistant coach
By Maddie Clark
Over the summer, the girls’
swim team had a change
in coaching staff. Jonathon
Karrels,
the girls’ head
coach, stepped down from
his position. Because of this,
Jamie Schnurer became the
new head coach and the team
was put to the task of finding
a new assistant coach. One
of the candidates was Ruthe
Zimmerman, an old colleague
of Jamie’s, who went on to
get hired as the new assistant
coach. Who is this Ruthe
Zimmerman, and how did
she become involved in
swimming?
Zimmerman
started
swimming when she was very
young.Herparentsbothworked
during the day and didn’t want
to pay for a baby-sitter, so they
sought out another alternative.
Zimmerman’s mother paid for
her to take swim lessons and
have a pool pass for the day.
Zimmerman comments on her
life back then, “I literally lived
at the pool all day.” When she
was 8, she started swimming
with the Wisconsin Dells
Dolphins and never stopped.
She went on to swim two years
at the University of Wisconsin-
Green Bay and two years at
the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee.
Since then, Zimmerman has
went on to coach for many
different teams. She started
coaching for the Wisconsin
Dells Dolphins then at the
University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee. She went on to
coach at the YMCA and stayed
long enough to watch the team
change from the Marlins to the
Fox Cities YMCASwimTeam.
After the YMCA, Zimmerman
started coaching for the Fox
Valley Wave and is now the
team’s administrator.
This also isn’t the first time
Zimmerman has coached at
Appleton North. She coached
with Jamie Schnurer a few
years back.
Zimmerman
returned to Appleton North
because of the fact that she
and Schnurer get along so
well and because of her two
little girls. Zimmerman noted,
“It’s the perfect season for me
because it’s only three months.
I have two little girls, a 4 year
old and a 2 year old. My 2
year old was born with Down
Syndrome, so she has a lot of
physical therapy. This is the
perfect amount of time where
I don’t feel like I’m neglecting
my kids, but I get to give 100
percent to one group for three
months.”
Zimmerman has many
goals for the team this season
as she makes her return as
assistant coach. She plans on
focusing on all the technical
parts of swimming such as
the underwater kicks, the
streamlines, and the starts.
Zimmerman also commented,
“The JV team is already way
stronger than when I first ever
taught with Jamie here.”
With all these goals,
Zimmerman has already made
a huge impact on the girls’
team. With the upcoming meet
against Neenah in September,
Zimmerman will finally be
able to showcase how much
she has helped the team. Even
though she has to juggle family
and work, she is still trying
to memorize the names of
everyone on the team.
Player reflects on tennis’ positive, beneficial culture
By Fatima Ali
Growing up, tennis was my
go-to sport. It was my main
summertime activity, whether
I participated in city tennis
camps, or even just had friend-
ly matches with my father.
However, as I started my
freshman year of high school,
tennis wasn’t an activity that I
wanted to join. There were so
many other extracurriculars on
my list, like debate, orchestra,
and soccer, that I simply didn’t
know how I would have time
to fit tennis in to that busy
schedule.
It would take two years
for me to realize how much I
missed tennis, and that I would
do the best I could to fit it back
into my schedule. So the sum-
mer after sophomore year, I
restarted my adventures in
tennis by taking lessons at the
Fox Cities Racquet Club,with
Coach Dan Oliver.
As a year passed by, I dis-
covered that tennis really
doesn’t take up a whole lot
of my time. Sure there are
morning practices in the sum-
mer, afternoon matches during
the school year, lessons, and
camps.
However, at the end of the
day, I’ve had so many tennis-
related memories that I have
absolutely no regrets about
committing to the sport of ten-
nis.
During the summer, I try
to practice tennis regularly,
whether it may be by taking
weekly lessons with Coach
Oliver, or participating in
camps that allow me to meet
other tennis players around the
area. Furthermore, I try play-
ing with my friends, many of
whom are talented tennis play-
ers themselves. Even though
keeping up with their hitting
is tough at times, it’s such a
pleasure being able to enjoy
the summer weather with my
good friends while also learn-
ing fancy ways to beat poten-
tial opponents come tennis
season.
Meanwhile, participating on
the Appleton North girls tennis
team has helped me create nu-
merous friendships with vari-
ous peers these past two years,
which actually is my favor-
ite part of being on the team.
From surviving aggressive
feeds during tennis warm-ups,
to surviving building runs with
energetic people, there never
is a boring tennis practice.
At times, the sweltering heat
may make many girls (includ-
ing myself) want to give up
from exhaustion; however,
when watching all the sup-
portive girls on the team and
receiving encouragement from
coaches like Coach Joseph
Soddy and Coach Scott Burt,
everyone tries to find the joy
of tennis and plows through
the remainder of practice by
taking sips of water and occa-
sionally exchanging chuckles
whenever someone happens
to suffer a misstep. Challenge
matches between team mem-
bers often prove to be such a
challenge since no one wants
to kick off a fellow team mem-
ber from their prized ranking,
but at the end, there are usually
no hard feelings.
Although tennis practice
is such a vibrant place to be,
one of my favorite days dur-
ing tennis season are match
days. Match day, for me, is my
time to represent the team to
the best of my abilities. Words
cannot describe how I feel as I
watch my opponents run from
side to side, and eventually
collapse, as I hit the balls cross
court, in hopes of winning my
matches as easily as possible.
Moreover, the more matches I
play, the more tips I can learn
from watching my opponent,
whether it is as simple as a
certain way they stand, or in-
tricate as tactic they use to
beat me.
Although I really enjoy win-
ning, I have learned how to
deal with my losses in a man-
ner that hopefully doesn’t af-
fect my future matches. Of
course, being with the lovely
girls on the team make match-
es so much less stressful, since
they are always so cheerful
and loud, no matter if you are
winning gracefully, or losing
miserably.
Lastly, it’s such a treat when
my tennis player friends,
Brennan Arnold and Sidney
Hestres, can make it to one of
my matches.
Overall, picking up the sport
of tennis, and being on the ten-
nis team has been a decision
that I do not regret at all. Ten-
nis is a great way to make new
friends, while also enjoying
the warm weather and stay-
ing in terrific shape. It is an
activity I would recommend
to anyone hoping to pick up a
sport while being surrounded
in a very comforting and non
intimidating environment.
Want to write a column
about your involvement in
a sport for the Noctiluca?
Contact Madeline Clark
at CLA542944@stu.
aasd.k12.wi.us
The tennis team practicing before a meet.
Photo courtesy of
Adison Cole
Coach Zimmerman teaches good technique to swimmers.
Photo by Olivia Molter