Michael Poniente '24 Recruiting Profile

I hope to pursue an architectural engineering degree in college while also being able to play D1, D2, or D3 on a scholarship. My strongest characteristics are my work ethic and leadership. In the 11th grade and the upcoming 12th grade year, I have been selected as the varsity team's captain. Throughout the 2023 tennis season, the team had a lack of coaches (our only coach had a lack of knowledge in tennis), as well as a lack of team managers, so at the start of the pre-season, I voluntarily stepped up to coach the underclassmen and manage the team which added on to being the team captain and a player as well. However, on the first game of the season, I sprained my MCL, which resulted in a month and a half of recovery. During those six weeks, in addition to learning how to adapt to the environment with my injury, I had to mentally recover from the injury, which prevented me from confidently getting on the court. I had to work hard to stabilize my mental well-being and work on getting my physical state back up to the elite level. I also couldn't forget about the team, so I still captained, coached, and managed the tennis team through the season, but on the sidelines. I returned to the courts on the team's second to last game, and I admittedly did not have the same confidence and courage I had during the preseason, but from then-on until the start of summer, I have built up that confidence again and have started playing without the knee brace. Because of my leadership actions taken during that season, the girls' tennis team's coach invited me to manage and assist in coaching their team for the summer as well as during their season in the fall of 2023.