RESOURCES

collegiate/pro tennis circuit

college tennis: NCAA/Other leagues/club tennis

what’s the breakdown?

  • NCAA Tennis

    Here you play for the team and the university in the division you personally qualify for. With your team, you compete against other universities in league matches and tournaments to qualify for the national tournament, which includes the country’s top 64 teams.

  • Other Leagues

    NAIA, NJCAA, CCCAA are all also leagues available at the collegiate level. Click on each name to learn more!

  • ITA Tennis

    Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body of college tennis, overseeing men’s and women’s varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College.

  • Club tennis

    Your selected college may offer club tennis as an option to try out for and join. Many club teams are registered with the USTA’s program: Tennis on Campus that leads to a yearly national competition.

college tennis: NCAA rules & eligibilaty

The NCAA has a lot of information, links and documents for potential college student-athletes: http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future and NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete

Coaches are much more interested in players’ results; much more so than the number next to their name – regardless of who publishes that number. They also notice if a player withdraws from tournaments, especially from the backdraws. A majority of coaches prefer to see someone play more than anything and will make an effort to do so for all the players they are considering seriously. If a coach can’t watch a player, often he or she will request a quick video of some match play. Watching a player play a competitive match can help a coach gauge a player’s talent level, competitiveness, attitude, desire, love of the game and ability to improve much better than looking at a ranking or even looking at results. In terms of how many matches should a junior play during the year, it depends on a variety of factors such as resources and determining how much is too much without burning out. Players should try to map out a schedule to play 50-70 matches, if possible.

College tennis: application steps

  • From there you can begin contacting the coaches of those teams. By junior year, you ideally should have a shorter list of schools, preferable categorized by tennis and academic fit, that you are interested in and also have initiated contact with the coaches at those schools. Email is the best way to contact a majority of coaches.

  • Email is generally the best way to contact a college coach, although we recommend the student, not the parent, initiate the email. NCAA Division I coaches are able to email a prospective student-athlete back following the start of his or her junior year of high school.

    What do I say in an email to a prospective coach?

    In an initial email, you should introduce yourself, indicate your graduation year and provide a link or attachment to your recruiting profile.

    In your email, address the specific coach that you are reaching out to (i.e., "Dear Coach John Smith" or "Coach Smith," not "Dear Coach"). And finally, you should express your interest in the school and ask the coach what other information they would like from you. Most of the time, the introductory email should be short to ensure that the coach does read it. If he/she is interested, he/she will follow up requesting the information needed.

  • There are different categories of admission decisions:

    Early Decision application deadline is usually Nov. 1 and is a binding decision. If you are admitted, you must attend that college. You may only apply to one Early Decision college.

    Early Action deadline is usually Nov. 1 also, but it is not a binding decision, so you are not required to attend if you are accepted. Decisions for both Early Decision and Early Action are sent out mid-to-late December.

    Early Decision II or Early Action II is usually in January.

    Early Evaluation is an informal non-binding “heads up” on your application.

    Rolling Admissions means that a number of weeks after you apply you will be notified of the admission decision.

    Regular Action applications are due in early January with notifications in late March or early April.

  • Click here for Nationwide AAPI scholarships

college tennis: recruiting profile

Build your recruiting profile

Click on each section below to learn what you should include on your profile.

  • State your full name, email address, phone number, area of residence.

  • Give a description of yourself, your playing career, academic achievements, and extra-curricular activities.

  • Give an overview of your tennis experience: highlights, wins, and awards. A thoughtful description of yourself as a player, your goals, and why college tennis will mutually benefit you and the school is helpful.

  • Be sure to include your test scores, GPA, intended major, etc.

  • It is important to showcase your tennis skills with videos, if the college coach is unable to see you play in person. Include practices and matches in a variety of settings.

Pro circuit tennis

Pre-Professional resource kit

Calendars

Determine what your strategy is when building your calendar. Keep in mind the need for periodization, what your goals are (short/mid/long term), what your resources are (financial, team support, equipment, etc), your ranking, your health, and geography, when building a calendar. Burn out is real! If you’ve never built a calendar before, it may take some trial and error over several months to years to figure out what works best for you and your preferences may change as your career progresses and you evolve as a person on and off the court.

build your team

Key members of your team may include: tennis coach, fitness coach, mental coach, physiotherapist, doctor, nutritionist, family, and friends. When looking for a new team member, you may consider outreaching to sports agents, trusted players and coaches, or the national governing body’s player development team. At the ATP and WTA levels, there is a database of coaches and a “Available Coaches” list. Build your team based on your goals and resources.

Find a training base

When thinking about a training base, consider ease of practice, practice partners, equipment, team members, recovery, mental health, and non-tennis hobbies/activities.