It’s a windy Sunday in February when Josh Waite gets home from a round of golf at Pevely Farms Country Club.
One day away from spring sports tryouts, Josh is used to spending a warm day like this on the tennis court. He’s used to holding a racket like he did when he was six, when his dad took him to Des Peres Park every day to practice. He’s used to arriving home after another weekend-long tournament in Kansas City, or Iowa or Colorado. He’s used to preparing to play for the boys’ tennis team, where he has spent three years on varsity as a key singles and doubles player.
But this year is different. This year, he is taking his golf clubs to school instead of a racket. He is breaking a family tradition of KHS tennis that has lasted more than a decade.
Josh, senior, was bred to be a tennis player. His two older brothers were stars for the KHS boys’ varsity tennis team. The second oldest, Matt, won a state championship in doubles his sophomore year. The oldest, Brett, was ranked fifth in the nation in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) at Graceland University. His parents, Stu and Michelle, met on the court at Graceland as collegiate players. They were coached by Michelle’s father, who recently retired after 25 years of coaching. For the past 11 years, there has been a Waite on the boys’ tennis team.
“Being the youngest, my whole life had been traveling or watching my brothers play tennis,” Josh said. “After so much of one thing for your whole life, it can get pretty boring.”
Since he was seven, Josh has competed in United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments, traveling across the Midwest and country to compete against the best youth players in the nation.
Following his older brothers’ footsteps, he competed in the MSHSAA state tournament all three years with the KHS varsity team, reaching a career best fourth place finish in doubles last season.
“Tennis was always fun and I know I’ll miss it, but I decided I wasn’t getting any fulfillment from playing high school tennis,” Josh said.
Though he enjoyed spending time with the team, he didn’t have the same drive to practice multiple times a week and compete in tournaments during the off-season. His mom, Michelle, remembers when Josh’s enthusiasm toward tennis changed.
“[I knew] when he didn’t want to practice anymore,” Michelle said. “He wasn’t enthusiastic about putting in the time it takes. It was like forcing him to go to clinics or taking a lesson.”
Will Sutton, senior and former tennis teammate, feels Josh had a big impact on the team.
“I’d call him a leader because he never got down on himself and kids could lean on him in tense situations,” Sutton said. “He was good at breaking the ice. He had a lot of experience.”
As his enjoyment from playing tennis declined, Josh and his dad made a promise with each other to play golf every week during the summer before his senior year. According to Michelle, they never had to force Josh to play golf like they did with tennis during high school. The more he played, the more it made sense to try out for the team.
“This is about trying something new,” Josh said. “I’m not going into it thinking I’ll be a top golfer or play anywhere near like I did in tennis, but I think it’ll be more fun. My biggest goal is to be a big help to the team.”
Boys’ varsity tennis coach, Janet Verbarg, was supportive of Josh’s decision, but it has taken longer for his teammates to accept he’s not coming back.
“We made it a team effort to bug him about it,” Sutton said. “I knew his family had a tradition of players. I couldn’t believe he wanted to switch his last year of high school, because he was so talented.”
Josh sees his biggest challenge in golf as making the transition from casual to competitive play. Unlike tennis, he’s never played in a competitive golf tournament before. Regardless of the season’s outcome, however, he’ll move on to try out for the Graceland University golf team, a small private school in Iowa and the alma mater of his entire immediate family.
David Holley, former KHS principal and longtime family friend of the Waites, remembers playing golf with Josh when he was young, jokingly trying to convince Josh’s dad to get him to focus on golf instead of tennis.
“I’ve watched him play tennis,” Holley said. “He worked at it, he was good, but he didn’t have the passion. Josh is a Renaissance man. I think he sees high school as trying a little bit of everything.”
