GREENFIELD — After a four year hiatus, the Greenfield boys tennis program is back.

The Green Wave last had a boys tennis team in 2021 but with increasing interest, were able to bring the team back this spring. Rick Miner, who has plenty of experience on the Davis Street Courts having coached the Greenfield girls tennis team from 1990-1992 and the boys team from 1993-2016, was tasked with coaching the program.

Miner said his goal is to create a love for tennis this season and to make sure all the players enjoy the experience so the Wave can keep the program going for years to come.

“The thing is to have fun, to enjoy the game and learn the game,” Miner said. “We want to make tennis a lifelong sport.”

As expected with a new program, it’s a young team that will be learning along the way.

Palmer King is the lone player on the squad with experience, having played in the No. 1 spot on the Mohawk Trail girls team the last few seasons.

After King it’s a lot of new players who are gaining valuable experience each time on the court. Shane Toomey, a senior, started the season in the No. 2 singles spot, freshman Noah Chambers was in the No. 3 singles spot while the doubles pairings were made up of eighth graders Sawyer Thurber, Ben Russell, Wyeth Miller and Colby Shepard.

“It’s exciting to be back out here,” Miner said. “We have a lot of rookies this year and a lot of eighth graders. It’s good to be back at Davis Street, it’s good to see some high school competition and it’s been good to see the kids get better with each day of practice so far this year.”

Greenfield makes its return to the courts with an 11-game regular season, two games each coming against local squads Frontier and Turners Falls.

The Wave kicked off their season on Thursday against SICS and suffered a close 3-2 loss at the Davis Street Courts, an impressive result considering how new to the sport the players are.

While Miner hopes the wins will come, his main focus is growing the players’ love for the game so that they continue playing through the summer and fall to get better at their game.

“I hope they’re all still here at the end of the season,” Miner said, “and I hope they progress. I hope they continue playing once the season is over through the Greenfield Rec Department. There’s a singles league, there’s people to get lessons from. I just want to see them continue to play tennis.”

Greenfield will look to get in the win column when it hosts Palmer at the Davis Street Courts on Tuesday, with the match set to begin at 4 p.m.