In any high school sport, coaches love having senior leaders to guide the other players by example with their experience and talents. But not every team has a lot of seniors. In the case of the Riverton boys tennis team, there are none on the squad. 

The Silverwolves began the 2025 season with 11 freshmen. 

Head coach Ronald Ence is crossing his fingers that his shockingly young Riverton team has the talent and displays the effort and commitment to offset the varsity experience it lacks. 

“We hope our 11 freshmen will work hard and learn enough skills to be competitive on the high school level,” he said. 

Still, despite the youthfulness of his team, Ence isn’t lowering his expectations for the season. He still wants to see every one of his varsity players reach the postseason and help the Silverwolves at state. Ence also wants to see junior varsity competitors get better and be ready to compete at a high level.

“Once again, our goals for our seven varsity players will be to see if we can get them to qualify at the 6A state tournament second round at Liberty Park in Salt Lake,” he said. “The expectation is to have JV and alternate players improve their tennis skills daily and develop some mental fortitude.”

The season began in early March, as the players battled some cold weather and precipitation. So far, Ence has been pleased with the players’ mindsets and their desire to perform at their best. Riverton has a humble group of players who are eager to learn and develop. 

“The team strengths we have noticed in the first two weeks are terrific attitude and effort,” he said. “We feel like the kids are very coachable and want to practice and improve. There is always something in tennis that a player can do better, a skill that needs to be sharpened.”

Aside from lacking seniors and fielding such a young team, Riverton will contend with other challenges. Region 2 features some strong teams with skilled players. Ence knows that the Silverwolves will need to be prepared every match to play well. 

“The kids will be challenged in all matches this year whether they play varsity or not,” he said. “Our region has some very fine tennis players.”

Riverton does have a pair of juniors who bring the most experience to the squad. Those players—Mason Maxwell and James Burton—are team captains. Both will play singles this season and have put in the work that Ence needs and that the other players need to see and emulate. 

“[Maxwell and Burton] worked hard in the offseason and are the types of kids who lead by example and effort. They are fearless and compete with class and are enjoying the high school tennis experience.”

Riverton will compete against region opponents Bingham, Corner Canyon, Copper Hills, Mountain Ridge and Herriman. Regular-season matches and the region tournament will determine which players qualify for the state tournament. The Class 6A state tournament begins May 10 at Brighton High School for first-round action. The second round and subsequent rounds up through the championship are May 15, 17 at Liberty Park. λ