After a long wait, Rossville senior Alex Sherer is getting the opportunity to play high school tennis for Hayden as a co-op player. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was a day that was four years in the making, but Alex Sherer finally got the chance to play high school tennis Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center.
Sherer has played the summer circuit for nearly a decade, but circumstances had prevented the senior from playing for a high school team until he took the court for Hayden in Saturday's Washburn Rural quadrangular.
It was everything Sherer, a Rossville High student who is playing for Hayden as a co-op player, thought it would be.
"Tennis is so individual, but I love the team aspect of everything in a lot of different sports, so just being with my teammates is a lot of fun,'' Sherer said.
The Sherers had approached the Rossville district about the possibility of adding a tennis program or setting up a co-op program when he started high school, but that didn't happen right away. Rossville and Hayden did eventually come up with an agreement that woud have allowed Sherer to compete as a co-op player for the Wildcats last spring but COVID-19 wiped out the entire season.
That left Sherer, regarded as one of the top players in the state, one last season to play at the high school level, and he is determined to make the most of it.
Shearer will compete for Hayden during the regular season before representing Rossville in Class 3A-1A postseason.
"Last year I missed the opportunity to play with one of my buddies, Ronan (Boyle), who finished fourth at (Class) 4A state a couple of years ago,'' Sherer said. "That sucked, but getting to play with Gus (Glotzbach) and Michael (Sandstrom), and Patrick (Gorman), all those guys are super great, they've been super-accepting, so I'm just having a blast.''
Obviously, Sherer could have transferred from Rossville to another school that had a tennis program earlier in his career, but he said that was never a serious option.
"I think when we initially didn't get the agreement set up my eighth grade year there was some talk about it and it could have been done, but I love Rossville,'' Sherer said. "It's a great community.''
Sherer has also had the opportunity to do livestream broadcasting for Rossville sports, including the Bulldawgs' state-championship football team, and didn't want to walk away from that.
"I love doing the livestream stuff with Dawgfeed and covering the football games and basketball games, so I love the opportunities I get there, not just athletically. I think it's a great place and I didn't want to transfer if I didn't have to,'' Sherer said.
Sherer, who posted a pair of dominating 8-0 singles victories and a pair of doubles wins Saturday, feels like he has the best situation he can have this season.
Sherer will face tough competition while playing for Hayden in the regular season and then will be coached by his father, Jesse, a former Washburn All-American and WU Hall of Famer, in postseason.
"It's great to get a little bit of both,'' Shearer said. "I love the team aspect and I love being able to travel with the guys and getting to have my dad around is super awesome as well. It's really fun.''
Now Sherer just wants to make the most of the long-awaited opportunity he's been given, with his ultimate goal to try to win the 3A-1A state singles title.
"Obviously I always want to win, I'm really competitive like that, but at the same time it's been a crazy couple of years for a lot of people and I'm just happy that I get to do this at all and I'm just trying to enjoy it and make the most of it.''
