FRIENDSWOOD’S MIGHTY QUINN SHINES ON TENNIS COURTS

NOT EVERYONE expresses themselves through words; some express them- WEEKEND SCHEDULE GO AWAY
selves through art or dance or music, but Friendswood High School sophomore
Quinn Radtke expresses herself through tennis.
“Tennis is a great way for me to express myself since I’m very shy,” Radtke said.
“It allows me to be active and show my work ethic.”
It is her quiet ways and inspiring work ethic, Radtke’s coaches and teammates
say, that has caused her to rise to be the number one ranked tennis player at FHS.
“She’s a very driven athlete,” junior Mia Gonzalez said. “Her coming in and taking
the number one spot showed everyone what the Friendswood tennis team
should look like and how we should act. She’s inspired us to be better players and
to try as hard as we can.”
David Cook, FHS tennis coach, agreed with Gonzalez in saying Radtke’s hard
work is exceptional.
“It’s not one example; it’s every day, it’s all the time. It’s just who she is,” Cook
said. “Once you watch her for a minute, you understand. She’s a great model to
copy.”
Cook said he credits this model behavior to Radtke’s success as she has already
collected 12 wins this season with only one loss against Clear Creek High
School; however, Radtke sees each of these wins as small victories on a path she
said she hopes leads her and her team to the state competition. She said in order
to get there, she must first put in time practicing on the court.
“It’s really fun to come out here and play after a long day of school. My mindset
is always, ‘what can I improve on today?’” Radtke stated. “I hope to show my
teammates what a good work ethic is, what hard work can do and accomplish, and
hopefully push them to make the team better as a whole.”
Radtke said her rise to the top is a bit of a Cinderella story, starting with humble
beginnings.
“I started playing when I was close to 10-years-old. My first year, I was just hitting
with my dad. He watched YouTube videos to learn how to play tennis, I picked
up a racket and he coached me with his YouTube video experience,” Radtke
laughed. “It wasn’t until about a year later that I started taking lessons, and I’ve
been playing ever since.”
However, Radtke almost missed her opportunity to compete at the high-school
level.
“I wasn’t originally planning on playing tennis for the school, but then my private
lessons coach convinced me to go ask Coach Cook to allow me to play even
though I had missed tryouts,” Radtke said. “He thought it over, then called my
mom to tell her I could join the team.”
Cook called this decision “the best exception [he] ever made.”
Gonzalez said she too is glad Radtke was allowed to join.
“She’s a great teammate: I’ve never heard her brag. I’ve never heard her yell.
I’ve never heard her be rude to anyone,” Gonzalez said. “She really is an amazing
person and I would love to be exactly like her.”
The comments made by her coach and teammate brought a smile to Radtke’s
face.
“It feels really good to see I’m needed on the team and people appreciate me,”
Radtke said. “But I do not want to take all of the attention whenever we have so
many amazing players on our team. My teammates are what really makes this
sport so great.”