Orono junior Victoria Barbetta packed up her school and tennis bag and flew off to Wesley Chapel, Florida to pursue her tennis career at Sattlebrooke Preparatory school. “Sattlebrooke is a private school for tennis players and golfers from around the world,” said Barbetta. Sattlebrooke’s school schedule is vastly different from that of Orono’s. Barbetta said, “I love the school and tennis schedule.” Barbetta goes to school from 7:30 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. and then plays tennis for four plus hours and then heads to an hour of training/conditioning.
With Sattlebrooke’s unique schedule and vast range of people, ranging from China to Japan to Mexico and Switzerland according to Barbetta, moving was a good change for her. “I was tired of going to Orono High School and seeing the same things everyday and the same people. I needed something different. I needed change,” said Barbetta. For those reasons Barbetta chose to move half way through her junior year. This way she would be able to get a sense of the school and meet people and make friends before her senior year.
After moving to Sattlebrooke Barbetta plans to enhance her tennis skills and improve her tennis game to the point where she is able to be a threat to competition and be able to compete and beat some of the girls she’s played in the past. “It’s also good for college recruiting ” said Barbetta. Sattlebrooke will hopefully open a door of college opportunities for Barbetta to a variety of schools in all divisions.
Even though Barbetta has moved to Florida to finish high school she still plans to return to Minnesota for the summers and a couple of the bigger tennis tournaments held here and train back and forth through out the summer and on her breaks.
Madi Arends is the layout editor for The Spartan Speaks
