Trying to attain perfection is a common goal within sports and within daily life.

Perfection always seems to be out of reach, which is something Mexico senior Katie Gooch realized during her tennis career so far and her first ever trip to the Missouri state girls tennis tournament on Oct. 13. 

Gooch had advanced to sectionals last year only to miss state qualification but was able to qualify this season on home court at the Fairgrounds Park Netplex in Mexico. After seeing what state was like, she said there are many players who are exceptionally skilled and ran into two of those players in the Class 1 singles bracket, two girls that eventually finished in the top 8 to medal. 

“I learned a lot about other players, and I got to see a ton of people that I’ve never played before or ever even seen,” Gooch said. “I got to see how they played. It was good to see the other side of what is past sectionals.”

Despite Gooch being eliminated on the first day with two losses, she had been playing exceptional tennis in the weeks leading up to her trip to Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. It was the first time a Lady Bulldog made the trip to the state tournament since Grace Wortmann in 2017, and Mexico’s No. 1 player this year was at her best.

Head coach Kim Costley said Gooch had been playing some of the best in her career, and Gooch even flat-out said it was the best tennis of her career, making all those tough matchups with opposing schools’ best players worth it. Costley said Gooch faced about six girls this season who were also in Springfield.

“My mental game was a lot better this year,” Gooch said. “I didn’t get down when I was a game behind someone else. I kept going. I set little goals for myself that were reachable. Maybe I can’t win the next game, but maybe I can win two points or stuff like that.”

Costley said Gooch has added and improved up various skills every year like her serve was better this year as was her mobility that cut out “easy points” for her opponent. Most importantly, she said Gooch has grown mentally ever since Gooch started playing the game around eighth grade before engaging in competition during freshman year. 

Despite the added pressure and lower margin of error when playing higher-level players consistently, Gooch and Costley agreed that trying too hard to be perfect can be more detrimental. Fundamentals and skills in daily life are honed about every day over long periods of time so humans are more comfortable and can be more consistent. Mistakes are inevitable, though, just as perfection can never truly be realized.

“She learned this year that she doesn’t always have to win pretty,” Costley said. “That was part of her mental game. Sometimes, she felt like her strokes weren’t the best so she would maybe think about that instead of the game. It doesn’t matter how you win, it’s just you win and go back to practice the things that aren’t sharp.”

In her first two seasons, Gooch was the No. 2 player and then was the No. 1 player for the Mexico girls tennis program, earning honors such as all-district four times and all-conference three times. This does show some natural talent as Gooch demonstrated to some degree in another sport.

Before taking tennis lessons two summers before freshman year, Gooch said she had played pickleball since fifth grade up until her mother encouraged her to take up tennis. That encouragement came from Gooch’s experience with pickleball, which has stark differences from tennis like the smaller rackets and slower pace of the game but still has the core premise of returning a ball over a low net on a bounce.

“Pickleball helped me with hand-eye coordination,” Gooch said. “I’m not sure about much else, though, because it’s very different.”

Regardless, Gooch had a foundation that was built upon over time by being thrown into matches with experienced tennis players after not having much match experience before freshman year. Higher-quality opponents also tend to be strong mentally, Gooch said, as she needed to adjust to keep up.

“As you start to play more and more, you start to realize what works and what doesn’t,” Gooch said. “That also goes along with it doesn’t have to be pretty to win as long as you’re hitting the ball over the net.”

Costley said Gooch’s “short, attacking forehands” are a good example of the strategy Gooch had this year as she was able to put away or hit near-winning shots to put pressure on opponents. 

Gooch said executing shots like these are satisfying, especially when they result in victories on points, games and matches. She said one point can feel like a game within the game.

“After you have a really long rally and you win it, or you win on deuce with advantage, those are good feelings,” Gooch said. 

“Katie does a really good job of not showing a lot of emotion as she’s very level, even-keel and doesn’t let her opponent know she is down or up,” Costley said. “That was a big growth moment this year — to play the point and don’t worry about the match.”

Costley said Gooch has been a “class-act girl” that will be missed in the program as it is difficult to perform much better in the No. 1 spot than how Gooch did.

“Not only are we losing Katie’s playing, but we’re also losing her leadership,” Costley said. “She’s setting a good example, she’s leading, she’s modeling what to do and she’s helping some of the inexperienced players.”

In the future after high school, Gooch doesn’t want to lose the exercise that tennis has provided for her but also doesn’t want to pass up the fun she can continue to have and knowledge she can still gain, like from the previously unknown techniques she observed from the state doubles competition this year. 

Gooch doesn’t need to be perfect. She just needs to be better than she was yesterday.

“I don’t think I’m going to play for a team in college, but I want to play intramural tennis or club tennis,” Gooch said. “It was a really good senior tennis season, and it was the best I could have asked for.”