Student Athlete of the Week Gabe Bandera

Rising senior Gabe Bandera has dedicated his final high school summer to improving all aspects of his tennis game, both mental and physical.

During his first varsity season last year, the Niwot standout reached the state tournament at No. 4 doubles but was admittedly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed. Instead of shying away, he turned that experience into motivation and has been impressing head coach Aimee Hites throughout summer workouts.

"I've been getting better," Bandera said. "I've been getting more comfortable in my stroke and playing with other people. A big problem for me last year was the pressure of a game. I can be solid in my muscle memory or my technique or whatever, but as soon as it came time to actually play against another school, I tensed up and got worse. I've improved on that by doing these practices."

Bandera has also been training with the Gonzo Tennis Academy and placed second in a recent summer tournament hosted by the local club. With Gonzo, his confidence has grown considerably.

"I don't really have one thing that makes me stand out or breaks my game," Bandera said. "My general consistency and my mental game are two things I've been working on and trying to improve."

At No. 4 doubles last season, Bandera played alongside fellow rising senior Tyler Chivukula. The two then-juniors overcame a challenging start before ultimately reaching the second round of the Class 4A state individual tournament.

"It was kind of a crazy introduction to varsity because I was the only new varsity player on the team -everyone else had been on varsity before," Bandera said. "It was so competitive last year for that spot (No. 4 doubles) on varsity. There were so many JV kids that were trying to get there. I somehow barely squeezed onto the team at No. 4 doubles."

It's currently unclear where Bandera will fit into Niwot's lineup this upcoming season, but he'll likely move up considerably in the doubles rotation with Manan Gangwar, Lauritz Stranzenbach, Pavi Soni. Kyle Davidson and LiChen Liao all graduated.

Bandera's senior year goals include improving his tennis serve while progressing academically, especially in his international baccalaureate (IB) classes. He'll also be playing piano in Niwot's advanced jazz band class.

"I love to play music," Bandera said. "I'm pretty bad at reading music, but I've gotten a lot better at improvising and playing by ear. That's what I love to do - be creative in music, be creative in film and challenge myself. And I like to challenge myself in tennis, too. It's the same sort of deal, just striving to be better."

After high school, the multi-talented Bandera hopes to continue pushing himself at a film school, preferably in California. When he's not playing tennis, Bandera has used this summer to condense his college search.

"I've always been drawn to creative art forms," he said. "There have been a lot of different phases, but film has really stuck for me. I've been lucky enough to have learned from a lot of different people and have a bunch of different experiences in film."