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Sunday, June 1, 2008
Let’s Hear It For The Roys
Collin County, TX
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The parents of Dennis and Diana Roy often miss their tennis tournaments for all the right reasons
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Diana and Dennis Roy earned invitations to the 2008 UIL Class 4A State Tennis Tournament.
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The Roy family enjoyed the District 9-4A tennis tournament – at least the kids did.
Junior Dennis Roy and his sister, freshman Diana Roy, are star players for Frisco Centennial, yet their parents often miss their tournaments. While the Roys’ parents are busy with their careers – dad is a computer programmer while mom is a nurse – that’s not why they often skip their kids’ matches. While the Roys are supportive of their Centennial athletes, they also think that their children play better without them. “My mom thinks I get really nervous when she is there, so she just doesn’t come,” Dennis said. “She just sits at home and prays for me.”
The prayers are working.
At the District 9-4A tournament, Dennis teamed with Kelvin Runda to finish second in boys doubles to the Frisco team of Blake Wiggins and Brian Bunyard. At the Class 4A Region II tournament at the University of North Texas, Roy and Runda won an exciting three-set rematch with Wiggins and Bunyard, which earned the Centennial pair a second-place finish and a trip to the state tournament. In Austin, Dennis and Runda lost a tough three-set match in the quarterfinals of the state tourney.
Diana won the girls singles title at the district tournament, beating Frisco’s Brittany Thompson in the finals. She finished third in regionals and went to the state tournament as an alternate.
The Roys would never have made it to state without the support of their father.
Dennis started playing tennis when he was about seven, clowning around with a paddle tennis set in his backyard. He liked it so much that it soon changed the way the family operated. “My dad took a couple lessons so he could teach me,” Dennis said. “The next thing I know I am playing almost every day.” Diana tagged along and soon the siblings were focused on tennis. When the Roys moved to Frisco from Arizona, the family got serious. Brother and sister started going to camps, clinics and academies.
Diana has become a real tactician. “My biggest strength is that I think things through. I think about my opponents’ strengths and weaknesses,” she said. “I think ahead of time what I am going to do when the ball is hit to me in certain spots.”
Diana, who couldn’t even hit the ball when she started following Dennis to the courts, now wants to get a tennis scholarship to college. She loves tennis. “It keeps you in shape,” Diana said. “You get to be outside in the fresh air. You get to meet a lot of people from different areas and make friends with them. You get to hit things. It’s just a great sport.”
Dennis, who likes to play the guitar when he’s not on the court, likes tennis for a different reason. “I like that it is an individual sport, even when you are out there playing doubles,” Roy said. “If you lose, it is your fault. It is great not to be able to blame anyone else for what you do wrong.”
Interestingly, Dennis likes playing doubles and says that he and his partner communicate well. He has nothing but praise for Runda. “The reason I got to state was because of my partner,” Dennis said. “I’ve never seen anybody work as hard as he’s done the last couple of months. He’s just hit to many big shots in really crucial times. He’s just a great partner.”
Roy has already had an excellent tennis career, despite struggling for the past two years with injuries. He suffered a broken arm as a freshman and played despite a dislocated shoulder last season. Dennis teamed with Allie Chermel last season and advanced all the way to the Class 4A mixed double state finals before losing to a New Braunfels team.
“I never really thought of myself as great at tennis, I just play a lot,” Dennis said. “I just try my best to have fun out there. Winning is important, but you got to have fun and see the big picture at the same time. I try to focus on the big things I want to accomplish.”
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