The Ace of Darien Tennis
Profile on Amanda Brodsky
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Freshmen feel heavy pressure to succeed in all facets of competitive high school life. Sophomore Amanda Brodsky didn’t let that stress hold her back from bringing her top game to the court. For the first time in Darien High School history, Brodsky was one of three freshmen who landed a spot on the Girl’s Varsity Tennis team last spring. The sixteen-year-old returns to the courts this month ready to trounce the competition.
"She is awesome,” junior Becca D’Andrea said. “She has improved so much since I met her, so long ago at Kings Highway. Now she's a sizzlin' player."
Amanda began playing tennis at age three. It started on a court in Spring Lake, New Jersey, which is a grand total of a whopping 13 years of hitting balls back and forth. She landed a spot on the New Jersey team up until sixth grade until she moved. Her parents signed her up and Amanda just kept returning when she realized she had an innate talent and was having fun on the court.
"Tennis season is my favorite time of the year," Amanda said.
Amanda's Top 5 Tennis Players
Amanda brought her junior A-game to Darien in sixth grade when the family moved to Connecticut. Her individual tennis accomplishments here are that she played on the Shappan USTA team for a year. She also plays in many tournaments here and there and is a two-time champion at the Italian Center of Stamford.
Her strength is playing doubles. Last year she had an alternate spot and hopes to move up with teammate Kyle McCoy to move up to a full-time spot. "Amanda has quite the sassy backhand. She whips it all over the court," Kyle said.
"We are hoping to develop our doubles game more during the second year on team," both Amanda and Kyle said.
From there, Amanda has aspirations to play tennis in college. “I got a job for this summer at the Italian Center’s tennis center. As you can tell I really like tennis,” Amanda said.
Off the court, Amanda can be found at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk where she volunteers. “I've been volunteering there for one year now. I had to take a training course in order to be able to do it. I really enjoy it and I've learned a lot from working there, and it has given me an insight into what I might want to do in the future.” Amanda hopes to work in marine biology. She also has a boating license and she enjoys boating a lot during the summer.
Girls' tennis captains are Annie Wilson and Courtney Whiting
New Coach: Mr. Davin Gebauer's son is #1 singles player Dane Gebauer.
