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06/29/2017 12:00 AMRecent graduate Casey Burns will forever be etched in the history books as one of the most successful athletes who has ever competed at Westbrook High School. Casey played the No. 1 singles position for the Knights’ girls’ tennis team in each of her four seasons and wound up leaving an indelible mark on the program. Casey finished with an overall record of 102-5 for her high school career and took just one loss during the regular season.
When all was said and done, Casey was a four-time All-Shoreline Conference First Team member by virtue of winning the 1-2 singles bracket at the Conference Tournament the past four years. She was also named Westbrook’s Most Valuable Player three times, earned All-State honors three times, and made the both the New Haven Register’s All-Area Team and the All-Hartford Courant Team during all four of her spring seasons at Westbrook.
In other words, the Knights were essentially guaranteed a victory whenever Casey stepped onto the court. Her opponents knew it, her coaches knew it, and her teammates knew it. Casey’s success came with a lot of pressure, but she always stayed focused on taking care of business, while also making sure that everyone else on the squad took care of theirs.
“Before I would go on the court, a lot of the girls would say that we were going into the match with a guaranteed point. I would say not to even think about that, because you have to play for yourself,” says Casey. “I wanted to make sure that everyone had fun, but focused enough to know that they had to get the job done. You can’t rely on anyone else’s point.”
This scenario played out many times for the Knights, especially during Casey’s recent senior season. Westbrook never seemed to win the same way twice—with the exception of Casey’s victory, of course—and so the senior captain always took it upon herself to make her teammates realize that all of their points were worth the same as hers. Ultimately, Casey went 26-1 this year, while helping the Knights finish with a record of 18-3 and the Shoreline Conference title in their clutches.
“This year, a lot of the points in the matches we won would come from different places. Sometimes it was singles or sometimes it was doubles,” Casey says. “I tried to get the girls to think to themselves, ‘OK, we really need my point to win this match today.’ I think we were successful at that.”
Westbrook’s Head Coach Paula Fitzgerald knows how lucky she was to have worked alongside someone like Casey, who was not only a phenomenal player for her squad, but also a great leader who cared about the people around her and wanted them to succeed.
“I felt one of Casey’s strengths is that she doesn’t just care about her record. She cares about the team’s record, and I think the other kids didn’t want to let her down,” Fitzgerald says. “Everyone knows Casey’s just a great kid. She’s not just in it for herself. She’s cheering everyone on.”
A lot of Casey’s enthusiasm for rooting on her teammates stems from a sheer love of tennis that dates back to when she first picked up a racquet at age nine.
“I started playing at the Madison Racquet club when I was nine,” says Casey. “As soon as I played, I started to fall in love with the sport immediately, and I have been playing ever since.”
Through the years, Casey has played in numerous United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments, both individually and with her sister Callie as a doubles partner. Casey’s vast amount of experience against elite competition was one of the reasons why she was named a captain for Westbrook during her junior season last year.
“I think I’ve always had some sort of leadership role, because people knew I was a tennis player, and it was my thing,” Casey says. “I didn’t always speak up, because I didn’t want people to think I was a know-it-all or anything like that. Once I was named a captain, I started to speak up more and take more of a leadership role and give advice before matches.”
Coach Fitzgerald feels extremely proud about what her two-year captain has accomplished on the court. Fitzgerald will certainly miss penciling in Casey’s name at the top of her singles lineup, but also she’s excited to see what Casey can achieve during the next phase of her career.
“When she was in the State Open quarterfinals this year, I said to her, ‘There might be a player now that may get you with a better stroke or shot, but you are the best athlete left in the Open,’” says Fitzgerald. “I don’t think that she’s peaked yet. I think her best tennis is ahead of her when she gets to play at the college level.”
Casey will be playing at the Division II level as a member of the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) women’s tennis team. The school’s head coach recruited Casey and, when they met, she felt positive about both the program and the school. Now, Casey will ramp up her practice schedule during the summer months as she prepares to play both singles and doubles at SNHU this coming fall.
“Going in as a freshman, I want to meet my coach’s expectations,” says Casey. “I’m really excited because the [Shoreline Conference] is pretty small, and the girls that I play with in the State Open, I’ve kind of been playing with for years in other tournaments. I’m excited, nervous—you know, a big bundle of emotions.”
In addition to all the work that she’ll be doing on the court, Casey also has her career goals in place as she gets ready to head off to college. Casey will be studying psychology with a specialization in mental health at SNHU.
“I’ve always been really interested in why people feel the way they feel and why people do what they do sometimes when we can’t explain it ourselves,” she says. “I’d really like to help someone struggling mentally or emotionally to get through tough situations. I’d even love to open up my own practice someday.”
As she looks back at an extraordinary high school career, Casey feels extremely grateful to all the people who’ve helped her become both the player and person that she is today. Casey thanks her parents, Tom and Diana Burns, for their unwavering support; Coach Fitzgerald for bettering her tennis game, while making sure that she still had fun; along with her fellow members of the Westbrook girls’ tennis team.
“Shout out to the team for making my last season such a fun and memorable one,” says Casey. “Even though there was a lot of pressure, it was really successful. We had a lot of fun, because we all were really goofy, and it was a great family atmosphere.”