Senior Delaney Hundzinski plays on varsity boys tennis team
October 17, 2017
Swinging feverishly, senior Delaney Hundzinski hits the tennis ball back other to her opponent’s side of the net. However, her opponent is a boy, as well as the rest of the players at the meet. Hundzinski plays on the boys varsity tennis team.
“I have won every match that I have played except for one, which is about six matches because I started late in the season,” Hundzinski said. “Boys tend to be more competitive because they don’t want to lose to a girl. They get angrier, and sometimes it’s kind of scary because they’ll hit harder so it is more of a challenge because then I have to not only think about playing but also the mindset too and not being negative on myself because of it.”
Despite the difference in gender, there are not many other differences for Hundzinski while playing with boys.
“The Michigan High School Athletic Association rule is that girls can play on any boys team,” Athletic Director Michael Bakker said. “However they can only play in one state tournament per sport. For example, Delaney allowed to play for our tennis team but now she cannot play on the girls tennis team.”
The MHSAA does not change any ruling or scoring for girls who chose to participate in the boys tennis season.
“Many girls do this but they then have to play by the same rules of the boys season,” Bakker said. “So their qualifying times for the state finals are the same times that boys have to qualify for. There’s not really any different guidelines in tennis, because to qualify to move on to the state tournament, it’s just trying to beat the other person that’s on the opposite side of the net that you are. So girls are still put into the same rank that guys are.”
