12-year-old tennis star on the rise to join Wareham team this spring

Feb 6, 2019

A 12-year-old tennis phenom is set to join the high school’s team this spring.

Brooklyn Bindas, of Rochester, recently won the New England January Doubles Championship. She took home the top title for the 12 and under division with her partner, Isabella Camacho, of Wayland, during the Jan. 12 competition.

Soon, Brooklyn will hit the court with the Lady Vikings. Last year marked the first time the team advanced to the state tournament in nearly two decades.

Vikings Coach Geoff Swett said Brooklyn has an impressive tennis resume. Playing since the age of 7, she trains at the Wayside Tennis Academy at Concord Academy and the Indoor Tennis Club in Marion.

Swett noted in addition to her tennis prowess, Brooklyn excels academically.

In fact, the high school’s International Baccalaureate program was a major draw for Brooklyn, said Swett.

The school started offering the program in 2017. The International Baccalaureate is a nonprofit educational foundation that offers four programs of international education that aim to develop the “intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world,” according to the organization’s website. 

The program is student-centered and rigorous, said Swett. He added that Brooklyn is currently enrolled in four classes at the high school after being homeschooled.

“That has given her the flexibility to pursue her tennis career as much as she has,” said Swett. “She is a highly proficient individual as both a tennis player and a student. I think the school will greatly benefit from her presence.”

Brooklyn started playing tennis five years ago. Her hard work paid off this past summer when she won the summer Junior Sectionals.

“She trains a lot,” said Tabitha Bindas, Brooklyn’s mother. “She mainly trains in Concord and she’s there from like one [p.m.] to eight [p.m.].”

She added that the Bindas family does a lot of personal and academic juggling to allow Brooklyn to hone her skills as much as possible. 

“She wanted to win again...So it was kind of like, ‘let’s win this one too,’” said Tabitha, referring to last month’s tournament. 

But before that pair of victories, Brooklyn had to work her way to the top.

One of her coaches, Fil Miguel, attested to Brooklyn’s work ethic. But he doesn’t just plan practices solely around making her work hard.

“I just try to keep things fun,” Miguel explained. “She has a lot of energy, and it’s one of her strengths. She loves tennis, and it makes it a lot easier for me to coach her.”

Though Brooklyn loves what she’s doing on the court, she is also assertive. 

“We also try to work on her net game, and aggressive play. Which I think is one of her strengths. She’s willing to try new things, which is also another great attribute for a tennis player,” Miguel continued. “The sky’s the limit for her.” 

Though Brooklyn is only in the seventh grade, she’ll take spot one on the high school’s team, meaning that she’ll have to focus more on singles play.

Besides that slight transition, Brooklyn said she is content to just keep playing the sport she loves so much. But, she says her eventual goal is “to try to get into a good D1 school.”