Foreign exchange students aid Foxcroft

Credit the foreign exchange student program for turning Foxcroft Academy tennis coach Ryan Dankert into a big booster of international trade.

Before the first day of tryouts, Dankert’s biggest concern was how to go about filling six of seven spots vacated in his varsity lineup by graduating seniors last year.

Enter exchange students Manuel Blanc of Spain and Michael Holzgethan of Germany.

The two unknown commodities have helped the 7-5 Ponies take the top spot in the latest Class B Northeast Division rankings.

FA’s European duo was still fairly unknown before Monday’s State Singles Round of 40 tournament in Lewiston, but after both unseeded players reached the quarterfinals, the secret’s out.

“I’m not sure exactly how that worked out, but I’m glad they both ended up coming here,” Dankert said. “To have two players in the final 16 is great.”

Holzgethan fought his way back from an opening-set loss and broke into the quarterfinals before losing to seventh-seed Bryan Brown of Bangor. Blanc is still alive as he dispatched fourth seed Danny Hammond of Brunswick with another comeback (2-6, 6-4, 6-2) and now finds himself preparing for a semifinal showdown Thursday against defending state champ Ian Robinson of Brewer.

“It’s funny. I didn’t even know up until tryouts what caliber these guys were,” said Dankert. “Manuel was more the unknown because I’d heard about Michael and figured he’d be the better of the two.”

The fact that Blanc hadn’t picked a racket up for more than three years also made it hard to gauge his talent. When he realized he would be coming to Maine, he borrowed a slightly broken racket from his brother and packed it with his stuff … Just in case.

“I was thinking about doing track because I was sick of tennis when I quit, but I’m glad I gave it a try again,” said Blanc, who was quite successful as a junior player in his native Barcelona. “I used to have practices three hours every day and I didn’t like playing anymore. My father went to all my matches and he noticed it, too.”

So it was that Blanc, who dreamed of being a tennis pro, packed up his equipment and focused on soccer, which he is also plays extremely well.

Fortunately for Dankert, Blanc decided to give tennis one last try.

“To be able to pick a racket back up and do what he’s done after being away from it so long is pretty phenomenal,” Dankert said. “I think the thing is he enjoys it more now. I don’t think he feels as much pressure playing, which I think is the main reason he stopped.”

Blanc could barely speak a word of English when he arrived in Dover-Foxcroft, but thanks to FA’s teachers, students and coaches, he has settled in nicely.

“I didn’t know any English… No English. When I came here, I could say ‘My name is Manuel. I am an exchange student’ and that was about it,” Blanc explained. “I have to say the people here in the school have helped me a lot though.”

The fact that FA boys soccer coach Luis Ayala is a fluent Spanish speaker particularly helped.

“Coming here was a big change,” Blanc said. “I like to be in a big city with a lot of people and very many things to do, no matter what you want to do or when. But I am having a good time here and my English is much better.”

Both Blanc and Holzgethan, who hails from the Bavarian region of Germany, are fairly low key members of the team, but Dankert said it’s the way both carry themselves on the court that’s important.

“They’re not very vocal, but they help in terms of the way they act on the court,” Dankert said. “Manuel’s the most gracious player I’ve seen. In high school tennis, with the concept of making your own calls, he usually gives anything close to his opponents.”

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or aneff@bangordailynews.net.