It may have surprised some last spring when Sydney Herrington, then a freshman at Bishop Brady, reached the finals of the NHIAA girls’ tennis singles tournament. But if you know the Herringtons, and understand typical family athletic dynamics, it probably wasn’t a surprise.
In large, athletic families the youngest is often an especially succesful athlete because they’ve been trying to keep up with their siblings. That’s the case with Herrington, who is the youngest of six and has seen all of her older siblings play college sports – Lauren (hockey at Harvard), Lance (hockey at UVM), Brooks (hockey at Colgate), Ian (rowing at Northeastern) and Shelby (hockey at Northeastern).
Sydney first started playing tennis at age 8 because she saw Shelby and Ian played and thought it looked like fun. That’s when she started lessons with her Bow neighbor, Alan Chandronnait, who also happens to be a top-flight teaching professional. Not only did Sydney have a coach down the street, she had playing partners down the hall.
“We would practice with each other and that was probably a little more fun that practicing with a coach all the time,” Sydney said.
Last year led the Green Giants to a 11-5 record and a spot in the Division II semifinals. Brady graduated four of its top six from that team, went 4-10 this year and missed the playoffs. But Herrington still went 13-0 in singles and earned the No. 3 seed for this year singles tournament.
She may not have gotten a chance to play on the same team as any of her siblings, but Herrington has enjoyed a family tennis experience with Brady – her father, Lee, and mother, Joan, are the team’s coaches.
“It’s definitely been more fun than having normal coaches,” she said.
She understood this would be a rebuilding year for Brady, but she didn’t want that process to last more than one season.
“Basically we just convinced a lot of people to join the team this year, and we also encouraged them to take lessons with Alan and there’s a ton of them taking lessons there now,” Herrington said. “So that will make us a lot better next year.”
Like her older siblings, Herrington is also a hockey player. She played with boys’ teams up until this winter when she joined the Bishop Brady-Trinity team. She also plays club hockey for the East Coast Wizards and went to the U16-Tier National Championships this winter in Minnesota.
She doesn’t have a clear favorite between the two sports and has, “no idea,” which one she might pursue in college.
“Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to choose,” she said.