Falmouth was struggling.
A wealthy town with three country clubs, Falmouth has long been dominant in tennis. Its girls’ high school team won 187 straight matches, a streak that ended in June after 11 consecutive state titles.
The Falmouth boys’ team entered this spring as the two-time defending Class A state champion, but at one point over the winter Coach Bob McCully’s roster had only five names on it.
So Nick Forester went to work. His pitch wasn’t exactly Come Play and You’ll Win a State Title.
“It was more, you’ll have a chance and it will be fun,” Forester said.
Sure enough, sophomores Marcus Goodbody (who had run track) and Willie Parker (lacrosse) signed on. They joined returning classmates Matthew Ray and Jack Forester, Nick’s younger brother, with seniors Calvin Spencer and Jake Leavitt to fill out the requisite seven slots of three singles and four doubles players.
“We ended up with 10,” Forester said. “We assumed we were going to get some freshmen or people playing their first year. They’ve all improved a lot just by coming to practice.”
Sure enough, Forester led the way to a third straight 16-0 season from his spot atop the lineup. He provided the decisive point in a 3-2 victory over Camden Hills in the state final after Spencer gutted out a three-setter at No. 3 singles.
Falmouth senior Nick Forester, the Varsity Maine Player of the Year in boys’ tennis for the second straight year, lost one match during his high school career. Staff photo by Jill Brady
“He is so focused on team,” McCully said of Forester. “I’m so proud of the leadership he’s provided.”
McCully raved not only about Forester’s recruiting ability, but his teaching and nurturing chops, how the senior patiently would feed balls to younger players in practice.
“My knees are so bad, I can’t do the things I used to,” said McCully, in his 48th season as head coach. “He’s really worked with these kids to bring them along and encouraged them.”
On the court, Forester has been pretty good as well. He won his second straight MPA singles state tournament, culminating in a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Thornton Academy senior Dariy Vykhodtsev. Forester reached the semifinals as a freshman and final as a sophomore. As a junior, he beat Falmouth teammate Alex Klemperer in the singles final, 6-4, 6-1.
Forester’s regular-season career mark is 41-0. In the playoffs he’s 11-1 with the only loss coming as a sophomore after the team clinched the match.
He is the choice, for the second straight year, as Varsity Maine Player of the Year in boys’ tennis.
“His statistics,” McCully said, “don’t adequately reflect his love of the game, commitment to team, leadership, sportsmanship and what an incredible role model he’s been.”
A natural left-hander who writes with his right hand, Forester plans to continue his tennis career at Bates College in Lewiston. He wanted a school reasonably close to home with a top tennis program.
“Obviously I want to get better,” he said, “but the academic aspect is also really important to me. I just think I can grow in more ways than tennis.”
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