By John Goralski Sports Writer Kunal Kataria listened to his classmates talking in excited bursts at a teammate’s graduation party last spring. The high school season had just wrapped up a few days earlier. Still smarting from their losses, the underclassmen were already looking ahead to next year’s campaign. The debate grew heated. Will this be the year that the boys team finally breaks their drought? Will this be the year that they finally topple the perennial powers on the top of the conference standings? Other teams keep adding championship seasons to their banners on the wall of the high school gym, and Kataria’s teammates—next season’s seniors—were already talking about leaving their own mark on the wall. It’s a sore spot for Southington’s tennis players. “Every day we go into gym class, and we see the banners,” said the incoming senior. “It’s been almost 30 years since we’ve won a conference title. We want to add to that. This is our senior class. We want our year on that banner. We want it for our coach because he’s worked really hard for us. We want to win.” To be successful in the spring it takes a year-round commitment, so Kataria [...]
By John Goralski Sports Writer Kunal Kataria listened to his classmates talking in excited bursts at a teammate’s graduation party last spring. The high school season had just wrapped up a few days earlier. Still smarting from their losses, the underclassmen were already looking ahead to next year’s campaign. The debate grew heated. Will this be the year that the boys team finally breaks their drought? Will this be the year that they finally topple the perennial powers on the top of the conference standings? Other teams keep adding championship seasons to their banners on the wall of the high school gym, and Kataria’s teammates—next season’s seniors—were already talking about leaving their own mark on the wall. It’s a sore spot for Southington’s tennis players. “Every day we go into gym class, and we see the banners,” said the incoming senior. “It’s been almost 30 years since we’ve won a conference title. We want to add to that. This is our senior class. We want our year on that banner. We want it for our coach because he’s worked really hard for us. We want to win.” To be successful in the spring it takes a year-round commitment, so Kataria [...]
