First Serve New Mexico to compete in national event for 1st time
Oct. 4—They have competed for Santa Fe High, Capital, St. Michael's, Albuquerque La Cueva and even Hot Springs high schools.
But the group of Santa Fe tennis players heding to Orlando, Fla., this weekend all come from the same umbrella — First Serve New Mexico.
The program, which provides students from grades 3-12 in Santa Fe and Pojoaque an after school program that focuses on tutoring, life skills and tennis instruction, had a breakthrough this summer when its First Serve 18-and-under team advanced to the USTA Junior Team Tennis Championships.
It marked the first time the program had achieved such a feat, and the team of four boys and three girls will head to the USTA National Campus for the tournament, which begins Thursday.
First Serve earned a wild-card invitation after finishing second to Northern Arizona 18 Team 2 in the USTA Southwest Section Championships in late July in Albuquerque.
Jacob Romero, an assistant coach for the program and a First Serve alum himself, said the team is the most talented he has coached.
"I couldn't be more proud of these kids," Romero said. "Every summer we go into the season with really high hopes. And this year, they just blew us away with how well they played and what they've been able to achieve."
While the program is based out of Santa Fe, the players compete outside of that area for high school. Humza Mahmood, Carlos Flores, Avah Trujillo, Yasmin Palomino Verastegui and Carmen Valentino play for Santa Fe High, while Marcus Crockett competed for Capital the past two seasons.
Fellow teammate Cole Segura played at Hot Springs before transferring to Albuquerque La Cueva this school year when his mother, former Capital Principal Chanell Segura, took an administrative position at Albuquerque Public Schools.
The group has collectively been involved in the program for the past five year, and each one of them competed for their respective schools at the state tennis tournament, either individually or as part of a team, last year.
Romero said the team is not blessed with the hardest of hitters, but they make up for that with a keen sense of court savvy.
"It isn't necessarily all about just getting out there and just hitting the ball, but you actually have to get out there and think about what you're doing," Romero said. "They know that some kids get out there and hit the ball harder, but it's cool to see them kind of figure out a problem and out-think their opponent."
While it is a team tennis competition, scoring is different from high school team tennis. Instead of winning five of nine singles and doubles matches, teams win by winning games spread over boys and girls singles and doubles plus mixed doubles. First Serve 18s is in a pool that includes teams from Northern California, Texas and Florida, and they play Thursday against the Texas Outlaws 18s at 3:15 p.m.
Romero said the team is not focused solely on tennis. He said they will bring a couple of extra suitcases filled with donations of food and items for people affected by Hurricane Ian, which plowed through Florida last weekend.
The idea came from players and their parents, and they want to help Floridians as they try to rebuild their lives.
"Of course we're going into it with high spirits and the kids are excited," Romero said. "But the same time, there's that thought in the back of our heads that, not far from where we are, there's a lot of sadness and devastation."
