Raquetwomen Upset Over Team Choice

Big changes don't come easily, as the Radcliffe tennis team is finding out. The attempt of some racquetwomen to revamp the Radcliffe varsity team into a seriously competitive squad has caused some resentment and plenty of confusion.

"The women's tennis team has traditionally suffered from a lackadaisical attitude," Meg Morgan, captain of the Radcliffe tennis team, said. "We're trying to build up a real team spirit, but there are a lot of practical problems."

Five days ago Jill Robertson, acting on behalf of Morgan, posted a listing of challenge matches to determine this year's varsity team. Four returning varsity players, however--Jill Robertson, Meg Morgan, Joy Skon, and Sarah Stearns--were not scheduled to play in the tournament, and were simply "set" in varsity positions, leaving the six other candidates to battle for the last two spots.

Resentment

Five of the contenders for the varsity said they resented the move, and felt that the varsity squad should be chosen by an open tournament.

Marcy Richmond, one of the women fighting for a varsity slot, said that the matches were set up "haphazardly," and seemed to "limit the opportunities of the other girls."

Two other girls said that the privileged position of the four returning players seemed "arbitrary" and out of place in the fiercely competitive sport of tennis.

Morgan said that the decision to exclude the four women from the challenge matches was made after long consultation with Mary G. Paget, assistant to the director of Athletics, and was based on past performances of all the players.

Morgan said that privileges were extended to the excluded women "as a necessary convenience," for there simply aren't enough courts or time to hold an open tournament before the first varsity match against Princeton on April 13 and still practice as a real team.

There seemed to be a real misunderstanding between the women as to whether or not the "ladder" that resulted from the tournament was to be permanent or temporary.

Paget said that she is anxious to rest the fears of the team and "will run the ladder myself if I have to."

"This is an interim period in Radcliffe tennis and there is a lot of confusion," she said. But she added that adjustments are being made, and that a solution is in sight.

Harvard tennis coaches Jack Barnaby and Corey Wynn have given considerable time to the women's team this year and the women feel that this attention is significantly improving the style of their play.

But the racquetwomen said that what they need most is an organizational coach. Morgan and Robertson have tried to organize the team, but their academic responsibilities cut into the time they can spend on tennis.

Morgan said that a meeting between all the women candidates will be held immediately after the Spring break so that all the organizational problems can be aired and solved.

Morgan said that the Radcliffe tennis team has been loosely organized in past years because participation was casual and limited. But the increasing serious interest in women's tennis no longer makes this possible, she said.