Tennis Family

When Kilby Featherston arrived at St. Francis Prep, he was going to play tennis. There was no questioning that endeavor. However, there was also a great amount of pressure attached to a Featherston at the Fresh Meadows school.
His sister, Shinann, a high level tournament player who has yet to lose on the high school level, and has helped the girls team continue their streak of 141 consecutive victories, 10 CHSAA state titles and eight Mayor’s Cups, has been the team’s No. 1 singles player since her freshman year. His two other sisters, Ellenoira and Martina, who now play for Fordham, also attended the school and were dynamic tennis players there.
“Everybody says ‘You’re Shinann’s brother,’ not you’re Kilby,” he said. “I’m not jealous. I’m proud of my sister.”
As proof, he brought in a sports magazine that had her picture splashed across the cover. The pressure, Featherston said, is inward. Naturally, he had doubts.
Thankfully, for Featherston, he had support, from Coach John Brennan, and his second doubles partner, senior Justin Perkins, who also served as the goalie on the hockey team. The two had known each other for quite some time, having taken lessons at the U.S.T.A. National Tennis Center and serving as ball boys there during the U.S. Open.
“It was easier just to be myself on the team,” Featherston said. “Not that I would be worried, but I was taken in as one of the teammates instead of the freshman.”
Undersized and only a freshman, Featherston is unlike his sisters. He was merely part of the Terriers’ second consecutive boys city championship team, not the star.
He started out at first doubles after earning the spot in the fall, but was moved back to second doubles when others outplayed him. The move, he said, worked out perfectly, enabling him to team with Perkins, who will go to NYU next year, where he will play hockey.
“Kilby is good; he proved himself,” first singles Kevin Holze said.
The two easy-going ball-strikers work well together. Perkins, a hard-hitting southpaw with strong groundstrokes, and Featherston, nimble and quick at the net, complement one another. Playing alongside each other for years did not hurt, either.
“We,” Perkins said, “just click. It helps when you are familiar with the person. We have good chemistry. We do not argue. We get along with each other.”
In Shinann, Featherston has quite a practice partner. He has learned a great deal from watching her over the years, emulating her competitive spirit and take-no-prisoners approach.
“She encouraged me,” he said. “Not taking any guff from anyone. … I am usually very nice on the court, but being a freshman many people are a lot bigger and they try to take advantage. I don’t get bullied around.”
After years of watching his sister win titles at St. Francis Prep, Featherston can add his own trophy to the legacy. He, of course, has a ways to go. This, however, is at least a start. Brennan expects Featherston to improve over the next few years. He loves the game, practicing whenever he does not have a match, and has the skills to lead the Terriers one day.
“I really think Kilby is a late bloomer,” Brennan said. “By junior year you’re going to see one hell of a tennis player because he’s getting bigger, he’s getting stronger and he has great footwork.”