'What a wake-up call' for FSU tennis team in Hawaii

It was an idyllic Hawaiian morning.

Florida State women’s tennis coach Jennifer Hyde returned to her 30th-floor hotel room after spending time on the beach working.

Senior Gabby Castaneda had just woken up and was getting ready for the Seminoles’ team breakfast at the Waikiki Beach Marriott.

Minutes later, just after 8 a.m. Saturday, Hawaiian residents and tourists received an emergency alert on their cell phones. It warned them of an imminent ballistic missile attack.

Castaneda tried to comprehend the message:

"EMERGENCY ALERT: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

“It was very scary and it took me a moment to process it,” Castaneda said during a telephone interview Saturday night. “We got on our group chat and everyone was asking is this for real?”

For the next harrowing 38 minutes, it was very real.

In Hawaii for a three-day tournament to open their spring season, the Seminoles are thankful the emergency alert – sent by the Hawaii Emergency Agency - was a false alarm.

But the scare won’t soon be forgotten by the 14-member FSU team.

Hawaiian officials said the alert was the result of human error and not the work of hackers or a foreign government.

“The times we live in now and the uncertainty of those type of situations, to have that right in front of your face is not a whole lot of fun,” Hyde said.

“At one point, every single one of us felt a tremendous amount of fear for our lives, there’s no question. Coming down from that, we talked about it, and kind of laughed about it, we were able to have some levity with it, after the fact.

“But it was not fun.”

After the alert sounded, Hyde informed her team – on the 30th and 11th floors – to meet in the lobby.

Players hustled down the stairs since the elevators were shut down. The lobby began to fill with concerned and confused guests. Tranquility was replaced by fear. Hyde said hotel employees were urging guests to return to their rooms.

From that point, Hyde had players take refuge in the sixth floor, concrete stairwell of the hotel’s east tower - farthest away from the sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean. Hyde’s logic was they were on the opposite end of the coast, and high enough to be safe but “not so far we can’t get down” to the ground floor if necessary.

“I was trying to get them out of harm’s way, not knowing exactly what that harm might be,” said Hyde, in her 14th season as the Seminoles’ head coach.

Once in the stairwell, Castaneda, from Fort Lauderdale, said players began texting families and friends and searching for any news on the status of the alert. The roster also features six international players. No family members of the team made the journey.

Castaneda said the severity and uncertainty of the situation turned emotional when her sister telephoned from Florida crying, wanting to make sure she was safe.

"It was pretty hectic in the hotel; everyone was kind of in a panic,” said Castaneda, who credited Hyde for keeping the team safe and away from the "panic and rush" in the hotel lobby.

“It was scary, it was a weird experience. We came here to play tennis, in Hawaii. You would never imagine this could happen. I was worried for my life and the lives of my teammates.

"It was a very bad moment."

Once the alert was revoked, 38 minutes after it was issued, the Seminoles exhaled.

Hyde huddled with her team, which opened the season with a win Friday over Utah and was scheduled to meet Utah and Hawaii in a round-robin tournament later Saturday.

Hyde was proud of her team and how it handled the extreme situation.

“I told them this was a great opportunity for us to take inventory in our own lives and the fact we are here together, doing what we love,” Hyde said. “As intense as today was. …you are allowed to feel anyway you want because that was some real-life stuff.”

The Seminoles responded in impressive fashion when they returned to the court Saturday afternoon. They picked up 10 victories – winning 4-of-4 doubles matches and 6-of-8 singles. Castaneda believed the competition helped the team’s psyche and lifted its spirit. The tourney ends Sunday.

“At first we felt like we were in a trance, did that really happen?” Castaneda said.

“It was a false alarm but the moment was so intense it was hard to let that go quickly. When we got to the court, I think we all realized it was a false alarm and, in a way, it was a second chance. We really appreciated the competition. But it was a scary moment for all of us.

“What a wake-up call.”







