In 2019, Habby Farah brought the Newtown Tennis Association’s Tennis Open back to town after it was on the shelf for a season and had only been held once over the course of a decade.

Now, Farah looks to bring similar enthusiasm to the Newtown High School program after it was forced to sit idle for a season. Upon finding out late this winter that the team did not have a coach in place, Farah jumped to fill the position.

“I am an avid tennis player and have a huge passion for tennis. I want to help everyone be the best they can be, and tennis is a great sport to do so. The students can work on their physical and mental ability. Additionally, they will build skills and confidence which will serve them well for the rest of their lives,” Farah said.

“My goals are to build team spirit while also enhancing their tennis and sportsman skills. I want to inspire the team to have a passion for tennis that will last their whole lives. I hope for the boys to learn to be competitive at tennis and also enjoy the social part of it,” Farah said.

Farah does not circle any particular matches on the schedule. He marks each of them.

“I look forward to all of our tennis matches. I told my team, every day is a new start. We do not look back. Like a tennis match, every point is a new point and at the end of the match we would like to have more winning points. We compete and do our best and deal with the results, just like life,” the coach said.

The Nighthawks are led by senior captains John Boccuzzi III, Chris Lindsay, and Jacob Shuman.

Juniors are Josh Parsons, Orion Bracksieck, Ben Ochs, and Sam Cannizzo. Sophomores are Eli Stan, Ethan Hillefeld, Bennett Samberg, Andrew Sposato, and Alex Kyprianou. Freshman Michael Berry rounds out the roster.