Hol Latest to Pass on Prep Tennis

Foothill senior Joost Hol became the fifth prominent county player to announce he is not playing high school tennis this spring. Four Woodbridge players have said they will not play. Hol’s reasons for skipping his senior year of high school tennis are similar to those of the Woodbridge players.

He wants to spend more time working on improving his game--something he doesn’t feel can happen in high school.

“The difference between high school tennis and SCTA [Southern California Tennis Assn.] tennis is huge,” Hol said. “High school tennis is not like high school baseball or football. I don’t think a lot of people realize that.”

Foothill Athletic Director Vince Brown said he wasn’t too surprised by Hol’s decision.

“They have their private instructors and they don’t feel connected to the high school anymore,” Brown said. “It’s happening in a lot of different sports, but it seems like it’s happening a lot more in tennis.”

Hol, who has signed with Northwestern, has been one of the best high school and junior players in the county the last three years. Last year, he advanced to Southern Section semifinals before losing to Ryan Moore of Servite. He won the Ojai boys’ 16 tournament as a freshman and was a combined 81-0 in dual matches as a sophomore and junior.