Tennis
Favorite athlete: Roger Federer
Favorite sports team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory: Winning the league for the first time in 23 years
Most embarrassing/funniest moment competing in sports: Swinging and missing at 10 overheads in a row
Music on mobile device: Rap
Future plans: Play college tennis and become and art teacher
Words to live by: “Good things take time.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel more!!
One thing people don’t know about me: My hair caught on fire
By Ed Morrone
Alex DeCecco refers to Karley Alling as the heart and soul, the captain and emotional leader of the North Penn girls tennis program, a role she embraced and ran with ever since freshman year. In most cases, this would sound like standard coach speak, but DeCecco had a specific story to validate his claims.
Alling, DeCecco recalled, had a very successful sophomore season as one of the team’s singles players, helping to lead the program to its first league title in 23 years. Coming into her junior campaign, Alling had her sights set on the number one singles slot; not only did she miss that mark, she was relegated to doubles in tryouts.
Instead of kicking and screaming or stomping her feet while threatening to quit, DeCecco said Alling had a different approach that solidified her impact on the program. She accepted the demotion because it was best for her team; months later, Alling and her doubles partner responded by going undefeated and placing third at districts.
“When something like that happens, you wonder how they’ll handle it,” DeCecco said. “She handled it the best way possible, turning a negative into a positive. I’m not sure of another kid who could have handled it so maturely.”
For her part, Alling admitted she was none too happy. But what would causing a ruckus have accomplished? How would it help her team? How would it help her?
“I was really upset, and I wanted to quit,” Alling said. “I never got into doubles; I can play it, but it’s not my first choice.
“Then, when I had to go out there later that day, I saw how incredibly fun doubles could be. Not as intense, easier to relax – for me, that was a good thing, because I can get a little frustrated out there. I was able to focus on just having fun, and from that I ended up getting to go to districts, which was such a great experience.”
Now a senior and playing singles once again as North Penn’s No. 3 player, Alling has posted a 9-4 individual mark, while North Penn has gone 12-2 as a team and won its second Continental crown in three years. Not a bad feat for Alling, who has been playing the sport most of her life; however, she didn’t really fall in love with it competitively until around the time she got to North Penn. Alling also played soccer and was a cheerleader growing up, but soon enough tennis won out.
“I decided tennis was going to be my main sport around 13,” she said. “I just love the fact that it’s a sport you can play your entire life. It’s fun to be on a team, but there’s also an individual competition aspect that I love, where it’s just you and the other person. No ref, no nothing, just you on your own.”
Alling’s mother was the North Penn coach before DeCecco took over, so Alling felt more comfortable stepping in and immediately becoming a leader on the team as a freshman. Unlike many freshmen who are meek and timid when first joining a varsity program, Alling was high energy and demonstratively vocal from the outset. DeCecco had coached Alling at Kinetix Sports Club, but little did he know at the time that having her at the high school level would provide the Knights’ coach with another coach on the court.
“I refer to her as my assistant coach out there,” DeCecco said. “She’s the perfect person for our team, someone I never have to worry about. Coaching high school tennis, some of these girls come with some issues, but not Karley. She cares, gets along with everyone, and all I can say is it’s like having an adult out there playing for me.
“The strongest thing with Karley is that we always had to let her be herself. Everyone in tennis has his or her own style, and she plays more emotionally than most. Being demonstrative is what makes her different, and she’s prospered because of it.”
So even when Alling is aggressive on the court almost to a fault, DeCecco never tries to rein her in. Alling herself admits her hard-charging, assertive style sometimes backfires, but it’s an authentic reflection of her personality and self-confidence.
She uses a strong forehand and serve to pin opponents back on their heels, allowing her to control points by playing closer to and attacking the net. Winning points closer to the net is something Alling learned from her year of playing doubles, which has only made her a more confident, successful player.
As for what remains on the docket for the rest of Alling’s senior season, she and North Penn have a pair of matches left next week against Spring-Ford and Owen J. Roberts before districts on Oct. 9.
“We won the league two years ago, then we didn’t do so well in districts, so I hope we can perform better there as a team,” Alling said. “I also just want to keep building on what this team has become since I got here.
“As a leader from the beginning, I wanted to make this into a real team. I didn’t feel like it was, and I don’t think we originally set out to, but as the years went on, we saw how everyone became a little family. It was so fun and fulfilling. Me and the other seniors came up together, and we definitely want to leave the team better as a whole than when we found it.”
In addition to playing tennis for North Penn, Alling also is involved with an organization called Touch of Tennis, where she helps teach special needs athletes 10 years and younger the game of tennis. It was while doing this that Alling, a budding artist, decided that she wanted to be an art teacher once she finishes college. This year, she enrolled in a career study program at North Penn where she goes to an elementary school every day and teaches art to the students.
“To see the special needs kids having fun and enjoying the sport as much as I do, it just makes me feel happy and validated that I picked tennis,” Alling said. “Same thing goes for art…to see them enjoy it as much as I do when they create a cool project, it just gets me really excited for the future.”
As far as college goes, Alling hasn’t picked one just yet, but she knows she would like to play tennis at a school with a strong arts program. DeCecco maintains that Alling playing collegiate tennis is indicative of how far she’s come in the past four years.
“When she was younger, she wasn’t the fastest or the best athlete out there,” DeCecco said. “She worked her butt off to become a really good tennis player, which is a big thing, because in the beginning I wouldn’t have thought it.
“It’s because of her self-confidence and her spirit that she did so well, and why she’ll do so well in whatever she decides to do with her life after North Penn. To be able to have a sport she can play in college is a big thing for her, given where she came from.”
In her free time, Alling enjoys doing what most girls her age do: spending time with her two sisters and four cousins that live nearby, taking her dog for walks and shopping with friends. She’s also a travel enthusiast, having just been in Hawaii, which only increased her interest in art and photography.
Although she still has a sliver of tennis season remaining, as well as almost an entire school year, Alling was asked what it meant to her to be known as the heart and soul of the tennis program, its emotional captain and leader.
“It just makes me feel like I did things the right way,” she said. “Sports are about winning and competing, sure, but it’s also about being a teacher and a role model, someone who teaches the younger players what to do and share my love of tennis with the rest of the team and everyone I encounter. It’s something I’ll truly miss.”
