He is not the biggest player. He is not the strongest player.
But Port Moody tennis athlete Jared MacLean is taking on some of his sports’ toughest competition and finding ways to win with speed, smarts and determination.
“I sort of had a breakthrough,” the Grade 11 Heritage Woods secondary student told The Tri-City News during an interview at the People’s Court in Coquitlam, where he trains with Global Tennis Academy. “I had a pretty rough indoor season but I fought my way back and started getting my confidence up and just playing better tennis.”
His hard work has paid off.
During the U16 B.C. Outdoor Provincials last month, MacLean and his partner won the doubles championship and he was a finalist in the singles event. One of the wins came in the semifinals against Eddie Wu, a friend and classmate MacLean has lost to nine times this season.
“He was happy for me, but Eddie is a competitor, so he didn’t like losing that much,” he said.
A week after the under-16 provincials MacLean was back at it, only this time against the bigger and stronger athletes in the under-18 tournament, where he was also a champion in the doubles competition.
His performance during both championships helped vault him up the standings and punch his ticket to the under-16 nationals in Gatineau, Que., as well as the under-18 nationals in Toronto this week. He is currently ranked No. 4 in B.C. and No. 30 in Canada for his age group.
But 2016 has not been as smooth as MacLean had hoped. Coming off of injury in his first year in the under-16 division, he struggled during the indoor season, falling 15 positions in the standings. But he started to turn the page when tennis moved back outdoors, where he found his footing and his confidence. Wins followed shortly.
“I worked hard and kind of held up against the bigger guys,” said MacLean, who is 5’4”. “I didn’t try and go pound-for-pound. I am not going to win that way.”
Instead, he uses his footwork and endurance, an ability that he has had since his younger days as a soccer player in the Coquitlam Metro-Ford system.
Tennis coach Shayan Mirhosseini said he recognized MacLean’s ability to move around the court the first time he saw him play as a four year old at the People’s Court back in 2004.
“You could see it,” Mirhosseini said. “He has a natural talent. As a younger kid you could see how well he moved on the court.”
Not long after, he started working with MacLean and has coached the young tennis talent ever since. Graeme Kassautzki, MacLean's other coach, will accompany MacLean to the nationals and said he believes he will have a strong showing against the country’s top tennis talent.
“He outplays people because he moves so well and he doesn’t get tired,” Mirhosseini added.
Longterm, MacLean said he is hoping to land a scholarship at an American university.
But for now, he is focusing on the under-16 and under-18 national tournaments, an event he is approaching with an underdog mindset. It is an attitude that he said has helped him get his game back on track this season and propelled him to where he is today.
“It takes the pressure off,” he said.
