The adage “Prior Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance,” often called the 6Ps, encapsulates this essential truth: A well-structured plan sets the foundation for a project’s success.

A perfect example of this principle can be found in this year’s Ellsworth girls’ tennis team, which sports not just one, but three players on the Kansas Class 3-2-1A State team. Two of them are sophomores and one is a junior, but how did this young team suddenly become so successful?

“I’ve been coaching for a long time now, 20-some-odd years. The biggest change we’ve seen in our program is about four years ago we added a junior high tennis team,” Ellsworth head tennis coach Eric Anderson said. “We’re seeing a huge difference in the kids’ ability by the time they get to high school.

“Coach Jason Maisog, my assistant at the high school, is the coach at the junior high. He’s taking the same things we teach at the high school level and just teaching them two years earlier.”

The three players who made the state team were sophmores Karli Haase and Reygan Coonrod and junior Inarie Rippert.

“The three sophomores I have now were all seventh graders when we started and they are sophomores this year,” Anderson said.

By adding the additional two years of training and skill development at the junior high level, the players entering the high school level are now more competitive and faster.

“The whole purpose of us adding junior high tennis was to help our high school programs,” Anderson said. “I’ve always said before we added junior high tennis, we were behind the eight ball because the other schools that already had junior high tennis had their kids already two years ahead of ours.

“In the old system, by the time my kids were juniors was when they just started figuring things out and it was tough for them as freshmen and sophomores to learn the game of tennis, but now we have that learning and skill set already established in junior high. It’s paying off huge dividends for us right now.

“I pushed for the junior high program for many years. Eventually, the administration decided that we needed to add that just for something extra for our junior high kids to do in the spring because the only option was track at the time.

“We surveyed the junior high kids, who would have been sixth and seventh graders at the time, and it came back really positive. We’ve had 20-plus kids every year in the spring that play tennis for us. It’s combined boys and girls. It’s been a great addition, not just for our program, but for the school.”

At the high school level, the varsity team is made up of six players. Two girls compete in singles, while the other four compete as pairs in doubles matches.

In addition to the three girls who made All-State, all six varsity players made the Academic All-State Tennis team. To make this team, they must have a 3.5 GPA as well as be a state medalist. Coonrod, Haase, Rippert, junior Felis De La Cruz, senior Elena Jundt and sophomore Hannah Vague all earned the honor.

Haase competed in singles and placed fifth at state.

“It’s a big accomplishment that I couldn’t have done without my coaches, teammates and family,” Haase said. “They are the main ones that got me this far.”

The doubles team of Coonrod and Rippert placed second at state.

“It means a lot to be on the All-State team this year. It has been amazing getting recognition for all the hard work we have done this season,” Coonrod said. “I’m proud to get to be a part of this team the past two years, and am excited for next season already.”

Her partner, Rippert, was happy to have success with Coonrod as her partner.

“It is a great honor to make the All-State team. I am so proud of Reygan, and I wouldn’t be where I am without her,” Rippert said. “I love playing tennis with these girls and the season is also so fun.”

The young, talented team is already looking forward to competing next year. With five returning players, there is a lot of anticipation for the next season.

“We’re excited about next year. The girls went to the state meet and are already looking at next year,” Anderson said. “I’ve heard them talking about it and who is going to fill senior Elena Jundt’s spot and just anticipating what is going to happen. They were looking at how many other teams lost members because they were seniors and looking at what we are returning. It’s going to be a good thing for us for the next several years.

“We have several upand- coming players that have been through our junior high program that could take Elena’s spot for next year.”

The tight-knit team can look at filling the spot with a high school junior varsity player or an upcoming freshman.

“We have a good junior varsity,” Anderson said. “We actually had 23 girls out this year for tennis, so we had three JV teams. I just mixed and matched and tried to get the kids as much experience as I could.”