While most kids were playing with toys, sixth grader Camley Whitfield played with a tennis racket. Ever since she could walk, Camley has known how to swing a racket.
Nine years after picking up one for the first time, Camley is top on the junior high team as a sixth grader under the direction of her coach, Marsha Wells, who also happens to be her grandmother.
“Camley has always loved tennis,” said Wells.
Wells works to find the balance between being Camley’s coach and grandmother.
“There has to be a balance between not being too harsh and too easy when coaching Camley,” said Wells.
Camley’s mom, Tyla Whitfield, is PHS’s current Varsity tennis coach.
“She has came to tennis matches since she was very young to watch the high school girls her mom was coaching. Camley’s mom was the one that introduced playing tennis to her,” said Marsha.
One thing Wells tells her granddaughter she needs to work on in her tennis skills is learning to play against girls who do not generate any power and lob the ball instead. Wells feels this is one thing Camley will have to work on to achieve her goals.
Camley does not leave tennis behind when the season ends. She often practices her skills with her family and participates in tournaments over the summer. One of Camley’s favorite tennis memories is winning her first summer tournament.
“I usually practice once or twice a week outside of the season, but I practice multiple times a week when I have a tournament coming up,” said Camley.
Even though Camley is not even in the high school building, she still has goals for her six years ahead.
“I want to end my tennis career at Paoli with being close to undefeated and advancing close to state. After high school, I would like to play college tennis. If I don’t, I’ll just play tennis in my free time for fun,” said Camley.
Camley has goals for her future and dreams of playing college tennis like her mother, Tyla, who played at Southeast Missouri State and Indiana University Southeast.
Camley also looks up to American Professional Tennis Player Jessica Pegula. Pegula is currently ranked No. 5 in singles in the world.
“I have many goals for the future,” said Camley.” A few of my goals are to keep improving, be a good teammate, and win.”
