Semoball Awards: Notre Dame’s Charlie West wins Boys Tennis Athlete of the Year

After a tremendous season in both singles and doubles, Notre Dame’s Charlie West was awarded with the Boys Tennis Athlete of the Year award at the 2023 Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH on Friday, July 14, at LaCroix Church in Cape Girardeau.

West took home the honors at the 2022 Semoball Awards as well.

“It’s really just an incredible feeling,” West said. “This year I just wasn’t as certain about it so it was really just a fun experience.”

West said his lack of certainty came from how talented the other nominees were.

“We had doubles qualify too,” West said. “I just wasn’t super sure.”

One of West’s favorite parts of the Semoball Awards is getting to see other athletes from the area.

“It’s really cool to see some of my friends who play other sports,” West said. “It’s nice talking with them and having a good time.”

West and the Bulldogs had a massively successful season as they reached the first boys tennis final four in program history.

“This next season we should be pretty good as well,” West said. “Hopefully we can do as good or even better than we did this season.”

Perhaps the biggest change going into the next tennis season for the Bulldogs will be they are under new leadership in Pershard Owens.

“It should be fun having some new leadership,” West said. “It’ll be good to get some new insight into playing.”

Before the spring tennis season gets underway however, you can catch West on the soccer field playing under head coach Matt Vollink.

West and the Bulldogs soccer program begin their quest for a state title at 6 p.m. on August 26 when the Bulldogs travel to take on John Burroughs.