As we head into the 8th year of Staley Tennis, I wanted to highlight 3 players I’ve worked with extensively who’ve committed to the sport of tennis and are achieving great things. Holden Babb, Kiah Farrington and Joseph Harper began working with me as beginners and after many hours on court training, currently all three have landed in the top-35 of the National Tennis Recruiting Network’s top college recruits for their respective classes in Indiana.
Senior Holden Babb (ranked 34th in Indiana’s recruiting list) has officially signed to play tennis at Bethel University this fall. This is exciting news to see more players take their tennis careers into college. Holden only started tennis his freshmen year of high school and didn’t start training with me until his sophomore year, so he is still developing as a player and refining his skills and will be a nice future addition to the Bethel tennis team.
Junior Kiah Farrington (ranked 19th in Indiana’s recruiting list) just finished her spring high school season, turning in a stellar record of 16-2 during her regular season. She again earned conference elite status by bringing home All-Conference honors in the Northern Lakes Conference.
Freshman Joseph Harper (ranked 23rd in Indiana’s recruiting class) has had a busy USTA season, playing in 25 tournament matches, most of anyone from the top players in Indiana’s freshmen class. Harper’s UTR-rating continues its consistent climb, breaking the 5.50 mark (currently 5.66) as he is poised to take over the #1 singles spot for Wawasee High School in the fall, replacing the graduating Holden Babb.
Congratulations to each of the players for outstanding achievements! Tennis is a slow growth sport and takes tremendous hard work and dedication to reach the types of milestones these three have accomplished.
From a coach’s and trainer’s perspective, this is great to see area players making these strides and really showcases the potential for local tennis if more players can get introduced to the sport early and seek training opportunities.
Shane Staley is the founder of Staley Tennis and a USPTA-certified trainer, Accredited Professional Coach and instructor.
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