Senior serves as an example to others after four years on varsity

Senior Jaden Ventura has been part of the high school tennis team for four years. From freshman year to senior year, Ventura has improved dramatically as a key component of FC tennis.

Ventura started playing tennis in eighth grade as he fell in love with the sport when his grandfather taught him the basics in the summertime.

“I joined the tennis team because my grandpa started teaching me how to play the summer before,” Ventura said. “My favorite part of tennis is rallying with the top four players right before a match. I love warming up and preparing with an awesome group of teammates. I’m constantly looking forward to running out on the courts and continuing to further develop my abilities.

This year is Ventura’s last season, but he has already made many fond memories in the previous three seasons. One of which was from the California Classic tournament in 2017 season.

“One of my favorite memory from tennis revolved around the California Classic tournament last year,” Ventura said. “I played number one singles and ended up winning two matches that both went to super tiebreakers. Halfway through the first match, my shoes completely fell apart. After the first match, I drove to the nearest sporting store to buy a new pair of shoes for the second match.”

Robert Foshee has coached Ventura in all four years of tennis. Foshee loves how Ventura competes in every match to his best abilities and never gives up even when he is down in score.

“I have coached Jaden since freshman year,” Foshee said. “He’s always battled every year and this year especially he has improved his shot selection and his topspin. My favorite part about Jaden is how he battles through every match no matter who the opponent is. Jaden’s got a great sense of humor and his work ethic has helped the younger players to do the same.”

Besides from tennis Ventura is also a videographer for the Feather Online. He first started photography and filming because his mom always wanted to take pictures of everything.

I’ve been a teammate with Jaden in tennis since 7th grade and have played soccer with him for even longer. He’s always fun to play with, unless he doesn’t get enough sleep, and is great at creating fun and adjusting on the fly. Working with Jaden on The Feather is probably one of my most favorite things. As a writer, I get to combine my skill sets with his photography and videography abilities as well as learn from him about technology in general. Jaden and I make an awesome team together. — Alexander Rurik

“I’ve been part of The Feather staff all four years of high school,” Ventura said. “I joined The Feather because my cousin (Chloe Mueller) encouraged me to try it out. She really helped me get the hang of everything and spent a lot of time developing my writing skills. In my sophomore year, I switched from journalism to video journalism to continue to pursue my hobby. I fell in love with being able to capture the awesome experience and over time started implementing photography and videography into my everyday life whether it’s filming a sunset or taking pictures of sports.”

Alexander Rurik, ‘19, has been a teammate with Ventura since seventh grade. Rurik has also had the privilege to work with him not only through tennis but also in soccer and The Feather.

“I’ve been a teammate with Jaden in tennis since 7th grade and have played soccer with him for even longer,” Rurik said. “He’s always fun to play with unless he doesn’t get enough sleep and is great at creating fun and adjusting on the fly. Working with Jaden on The Feather is probably one of my most favorite things. As a writer, I get to combine my skill sets with his photography and videography abilities as well as learn from him about technology in general. Jaden and I make an awesome team together.”

Ventura is also part of the worship team for school and church. He first got into lighting last summer when he first began volunteering at People’s Church. Ventura has taught others how to work the lights, including Logan Lewis, ‘20.

“Jaden’s someone I’ve known for a really long time,” Lewis said. “I was first introduced to him when I joined the worship team at school. He was the lighting guy and wanted to teach me how to do it. I listened to him and he guided me through step by step how to put on an awesome light show. Flash forward two years later and now we’re on the same level, and we learn from each other every day. We’ll text each other late at night with ideas on how to improve the worship atmosphere at church and at school.”

If you are interested in Ventura’s videos you can check out his Feather profile page. 

For more articles, read Community leaders, Fresno Christian supports 31st annual Kid’s Day or RECAP: Winter sports awards banquet honors students, coaches.

John Monke can be reached via email.