Johnson teaches tennis players about life and ‘the game’

LAKE CITY — Jenny Johnson said she constantly reminds her players to work hard and have fun “because tennis is the game.”

“Good athletes have a burning desire to win,” said Johnson, The Carolina Academy’s varsity girls tennis head coach.

The team is off to a good start this season, she said.

The team, which won its 13th state title last year, is undefeated so far this year.

“This was a rebuilding year,” Johnson said.

Players spend a great deal of time working on doubles, strategies and shot selection during practices, she said.

Every week, the girls play challenge matches against their teammates, through which the team “controls their own destiny,” Johnson said.

“We’re hoping to have a good year,” she said. “Everyone has been doing really well.”

Johnson said she has been coaching the team since 2001 and started out with nine players. She said the team had 20 players by 2003, which prompted the school to start a junior varsity tennis team.

On the court, the players learn a great deal about life, Johnson said. She said she tells the players to be grateful for life and try to make the best of every day.

Johnson said she tries to take the talents and skills each player already possesses and mold her into the best tennis player and person she can be.
“You want to be confident, but not arrogant,” Johnson said she tells her players. “Win with grace, lose with dignity.”

She said it’s extremely important to always treat opponents with respect. Johnson said she is an advocate for positive reinforcement and always lets her players know when they are doing well.

She said the players don’t miss practices and always work independently.

Johnson said Taylor Osborne, Tori Osborne and Ali Courtney are the team’s leaders. Also starting are Hailey Hannock, a seventh-grade student, and Haven Brown, who is in eighth grade, Johnson said.

Harula Paraschos, an eighth-grade student, and seventh-graders Mary Bryant Matthews and Mary Allison Burch all moved up to the varsity team and are working hard to learn the routines, Johnson said.

Rebecca Weaver, an eighth-grade student, has moved from the No. 5 position last season to No. 1 this year. Weaver has played in matches with girls bigger and taller than her from Trinity Collegiate School and Florence Christian School, Johnson said.

“It’s a lot of fun to watch her progress,” said Johnson, who added that Weaver is about 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs less than 100 pounds.

“She will work with you when you need help something,” Weaver said of Johnson.

Tori Osborne said Johnson is enthusiastic about tennis and is one of the greatest coaches.

“She is very encouraging and is always in a good mood,” Taylor Osborne said about Johnson.

Johnson said her love for tennis began while playing with an adult league team she joined after graduating from college. She said the team won the state, Southern and national championships.

Her high school didn’t have a tennis team, she said.

As an adult, she became involved in the South Carolina Tennis Association and served on its board of directors, of which she is a past vice president, she said.

Johnson was pleased to help revise the South Carolina Tobacco Festival Tennis Tournament, she said.

She found time to coach tennis when her sons, Will and James, entered college, she said.

Will has played tennis as an undergraduate student at Wofford College and has played in championships, she said.

She also said that when her sons were young, they participated in many sports and she was always there to support them.

“I like to have fun,” Johnson said.

In addition to coaching tennis, Johnson teaches math at Williamsburg Technical College and education courses at Coastal Carolina University.

Johnson earned a bachelor’s in math from Converse College and a master’s in education from Francis Marion University.

In her spare time, Johnson enjoys deer hunting and fishing, she said.