Drive by the Van Buren High School tennis courts on any given evening and you’ll likely find the same person: senior T.J. Saniseng. He might be practicing by himself, he might be working with one of his coaches, or — and it’s become something he is known for — helping a fellow player.
Saniseng has been considered one of the better players in the River Valley area, serving as captain of the Van Buren team for two consecutive years, working to become the Pointers’ No. 1 seed and qualifying for another state tournament appearance after a win Thursday at the 6A West Conference Tournament. People know his name, and even if they have no ties to tennis, people show up to support Saniseng, coach Brandy Mosby said.
There’s a lot more to Saniseng, however, than just his individual game. Sure, his success for the school is something to be proud of, and he acknowledges his competitive spirit, but he’ll be remembered for a lot more. Mosby said his character and personality — the way he handles himself and cares about others — is what will really stick with people.
“He respects the integrity of the game. He respects his opponents,” said Mosby. “When he’s playing a kid and they’re not doing so well, or maybe they’re beginners and they’re like, ‘This kid’s killing me,’ he’ll stay with them and hit with them. Or, he’ll give them some pointers or try and pump them up. He has respect for other people. He’s constantly playing jokes or goofing off. There’s no one that he meets that he’s not a friend with.”
Early days
Saniseng started playing tennis when he was a young boy. His father, Tony, would take him and his sisters out to the high school courts and let them play. It stuck for all three but especially T.J. From the time he picked up a racket, tennis was it. Some kids might try every sport possible to figure out what they like best, but there was never a question. He knew, and so did his father.
“T.J. just always gravitated toward tennis,” Tony Saniseng said.
That gravitation led him to clinics with in-house retired tennis pro Dee Cox, private lessons and then team play. Now, he’s getting written about in the newspaper and has his picture on the wall at the local Walmart. It’s something he certainly never imagined, but it fills Tony Saniseng with pride nonetheless.
“As a parent to walk in, it’s like, ‘Whoa, my son’s there,’” Tony Saniseng said.
Mosby sounds a lot like Tony Saniseng, like a parent filled with pride over their child, when discussing Saniseng. He’s a hard-working player who cares about getting better. He sets the temperature for the team. He makes an effort to lead his team by example. Sometimes that means staying late to practice alone, other times it means spending his own money to watch other players at various tournaments. It also means volunteering time helping Cox teach different camps and clinics.
“You can’t get him off the court. It doesn’t matter what he’s doing, he’s on the court every single night of the week,” Mosby said. “Now, I have to remind him he’s got homework, because he doesn’t want to do homework. He’s not flunking anything, but he’d rather be out here. He’s constantly on the court. He’s constantly improving his game.”
More than anything, though, Mosby and Tony Saniseng want people to know his character. He makes people laugh and makes them feel seen. Mosby said it doesn’t matter the skill level of his teammates or opponents, Saniseng is intentional about encouraging others.
There’s not a school Van Buren competes against that doesn’t know and actively support him. If Saniseng is facing a player from Fayetteville, Mosby said the Bentonville team is cheering for him, and it has everything to do with the kindness he shows everyone he meets.
Then, there are the local families who spend their afternoons and evenings at the tennis courts, watching each of the team’s home matches because of Saniseng. Sometimes it’s because they’ve heard he’s good, sometimes it’s because he’s become a fixture on the tennis courts, but a lot of times, it’s because he’s coached their own kids and gotten to interact with him. They’ve experienced his kind, goofy personality.
“He’s just a good kid. I get parents coming up to me all the time (saying), ‘We just love T.J. He’s such a good kid. We love watching him play,” Mosby said. “He respects everyone else, and he gets a lot of respect back.”
Influencing others
Saniseng doesn’t think much of his time volunteering. For him, it started out as a fun way to help Cox, but it has morphed into an opportunity to impact younger players the way his former teammates pushed him toward improvement.
“I got addicted to the younger kids,” he said with a grin. “And I got to watch them grow up.”
The senior has worked with Cox for several years and with children at the Alma Boys and Girls Club. It’s not a big deal to him. He just laughs and says, “good times” when recalling memories of the young players teasing him mercilessly.
“He’s never turned down opportunities to help out or just be on the court,” Tony Saniseng said. “It’s what he loves.”
It’s special to see how his influence over the next generation of players. By spending a few hours in the summer or after school with a handful of elementary-aged kids, he’s become a hero. They come to matches to just to see Saniseng, and rather than letting them be mere spectators, he lets them spend time with him around afterward.
“He’s with the team, but the kids are following him, joking with him,” Mosby said. “I just think that’s so cool that he can do that.”
Looking ahead
With the season’s end in sight, Saniseng is getting ready to move on from Van Buren tennis. It doesn’t mean he’ll set down his racket, by any stretch of the imagination, but things could look a lot different in the next year.
In the coming months, Saniseng will play in the state tournament, graduate and begin his college career. His next moves are still up in the air as he and Mosby work to land him a spot on a university tennis team, but no matter where he ends up, Saniseng has left a legacy in Van Buren.
The community knows his name, it knows his game. It knows how he made fellow players his family and the court his home. It knows he was born to play the sport, whether or not he’s on a team somewhere next fall.
“He’ll be playing it for the rest of his life,” Mosby said. “I think this will keep going. It’s just a part of him. He just bleeds tennis, and it’s something he’ll always do.”
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