It started in seventh grade. Little did Emma Fritchen know it would change her life. 

“A friend asked me if I wanted to go to tennis tryouts with her,” Fritchen said. “And I was like, sure, tennis sounds interesting enough.”

Interesting…but Fritchen wasn’t exactly a natural. 

 “I made the team because I could run a decent amount,” Fritchen said. “And the coach was like, yeah, she’s somewhat athletic. So we will put her on the team.” 

Fritchen was number 12 on the Ed Wilkie tennis team the last semester of seventh grade. Then in eighth grade, she started playing more competitively and got up to six on the team. 

Now she is ranked number one in girls on the varsity team. 

She practices through eighth period and until 5:30 every day during the season, which is during fall and spring.  

“We really don’t have an offseason because our ‘offseason’ is really just time we spend preparing for the next season or where we’re playing matches against one another,” she said.  

Emma also practices at tennis camps and other college camps that players can go to during the summer.  

“At tryouts we will challenge each other, and whoever wins the most games and has been working hard all summer, has been putting in a lot of effort over the summer and has been successful in challenges will go higher up the ladder,” Emma said. “It’s very competitive to win against people. You can be in the draw to be the top three or the top varsity, which is six.”   

Fritchen doesn’t plan on playing tennis for the college that she will be attending after high school. 

 “It’s not in the cards for me, because I’m not a Division 1 player,” she said. “I mean, I am number one on the Chisholm Trail tennis team, but Division 1 players are called from all different countries to come and play for those schools. I’d probably like to play in a club or a league separate from the school where I can go to tournaments, or just play for fun every once in a while.”