It’s All About Attitude

Book inspires captain to get tough for section championship matches

By Kaitlyn Brown/USTA Southern Intern

Kaitlyn Brown/USTA Southern

Many teams have mottos that are pretty self explanatory when you hear them. However, that is not the case for the Alabama women’s 3.0 team. “Get your big dog on” is something they say in order to encourage one another on the court. You may ask yourself, “what does that mean and why on earth is that encouraging?” Well, there is actually a story behind it. On their way to state, team member Carla Boettner decided that a good way to prepare for the state championship was to read a book called Winning State. 

“The book taught me that winning is all about attitude, being tough, digging in, and getting in there”, explained Boettner, who shared this newfound wisdom with her team right before state. “We were barking at each other all weekend after that”, laughed Bridget Sikora, the team’s captain. Apparently the barking worked, because they won state and made it to the USTA League Southern Section Championships.

Sikora and her co-captain, Kim Grumley, were not so successful last year. Playing on separate teams, they both lost in the state championship finals and returned home disappointed. They decided to put their heads together and join forces, determined to go all the way the next year. Their plan has worked thus far, but not without a few obstacles. So far one teammate has broken her foot and another has bruised her ribs in a floating accident. “She got slung off a float by her husband”, said a teammate jokingly, “and if she didn’t recover, he would have to put on a skirt and take her place”. Luckily, she was fine and there were only women out there in skirts today.

This team of “big dogs” did not make it this far alone. They had a lot of help and encouragement from their tennis pro, Bob Sianchetti. They will be able to return the favor this week by cheering him on in return, because he is also playing in the sectional championships with his senior men’s 4.5 team from Alabama.

If you can’t hear any barking, another way to spot this team is by their blue and green outfits, which they will be wearing all week. However, if they make it to the finals, they will represent their home state by wearing crimson and white, colors from the Alabama flag.