College Tennis Development and Recruiting Process

1. College Tennis Development and Recruiting Process Ben Lee

2. What This Website Will Do • Educate junior tennis players grades 5-12 on how to develop their game and how to get recruited by a college tennis coach • A handy website for parents as well • Illustrates the step-by-step player development and recruiting process that will give players the best chance to be recruited • This site assumes the player is between intermediate to advanced level of play • Understands point construction and can hit a ball essentially where they want to

3. What Are the Different Levels of College Tennis? • NCAA Division I • Most prestigious and competitive division, with heavily funded programs for scholarships • Examples- University of Arizona, University of Southern California, Northwestern University, University of Florida, Harvard University, University of Louisiana-Lafayette • NCAA Division II • Usually smaller, less funded, and less competitive programs than Division I, with limited funding for scholarships • Same regulations as Division I • Examples- Azusa Pacific University, Barry University, Rollins College, University of Bridgeport, University of District of Columbia • NCAA Division III • Usually smaller, private institutions, that have little funding and are not allowed to give scholarships • Examples- Middlebury College, Emory University, Connecticut College, Johns Hopkins University, Oberlin College • NJCAA • Small, 2-year colleges, usually community colleges, athletic scholarships allowed • NAIA • Smaller colleges, usually relatively unknown institutions with limited funding for scholarships

4. NCAA • Governing body for collegiate athletes • Exception of NJCAA and NAIA • Promotes amateurism in athletics • Creates rules, regulations, and bylaws of collegiate athletics • http://www.ncaa.org and http://www.ncaa.com

5. ITA • Intercollegiate Tennis Association • Governing body of collegiate tennis • Regulates rankings and regulations for collegiate tennis in compliance with NCAA rules and regulations • http://itatennis.com/

6. USTA • Governing body for tennis in the United States (not associated with NCAA or ITA) • Moderates tournaments and rankings for all levels of play (especially for juniors) • Has its own ranking system • Based on round by round results system, awarding points for every round reached in a tournament • Farther you go, more points you get • More points you get, the higher your ranking is • http://www.usta.com/

7. TennisRecruiting.net • Alternate ranking website for junior tennis • Specializes in collegiate recruiting • Has its own ranking system • Based off of who you have beaten, and who they have beaten • Build your own profile and see which collegiate coaches have seen your profile (great tool for junior players) • http://www.tennisrecruiting.net

8. Tips going into recruiting process • Tennis should be ENJOYABLE • Play because you love the sport, not for a scholarship, your parents want you to, etc. • CHILL out, it is not life or death • Many students and parents take this too seriously- tennis is just a game • College tennis is a JOB • Minimum 20 hours per week between conditioning and practice, even more with the more competitive divisions • Tennis will be your LIFE in college • Have other interests or passions besides tennis and doing well in school, keeps your mind mentally fresh • Have FUN in college • It will be the best 4 years of your life- work hard, play hard • Do well in SCHOOL • You will be a STUDENT-athlete, being a student comes first and foremost

9. The Step by Step Development and recruiting Process- Middle School (Grades 5-8) • Keep tennis FUN • Goal should be develop players game while keeping the sport enjoyable • Play other sports, don’t have tennis be the only sport you play • Avoid “burn out”- VERY common in tennis players • Group clinics 2-4 times per week, along with 1 private lesson • No more than 1.5-2 hour clinic, and 1 hour private, never exceeding 7 hours per week • Clinics should be with other players around same ability level • Check with local tennis clubs to see what clinics may be in your area • 1-2 regional tournaments per month (no more than 15 per year) • If not 1-2 per month, less is more • Take off a day of practice for every day played in tournament • Tournaments are meant to develop strategic play while learning to play on your own • This number will stay the same through graduation (unless noted otherwise) • No national tournaments, unless player is significantly qualified • Use these trips to national tournaments as a family vacation, make an adventure of it • National tournaments are difficult to qualify for, there should be no pressure to qualify for them for a long time

10. Development and Recruiting Process- High School Freshman • Choose one sport to focus on • Begin to visit college campuses with parents that are driving distance from your home • Helps with recruiting process on your end- figure out what kind of school you would want to play for- big or small, Division I or III, warm or cold weather, etc. • Increase number of times played per week • 3-5 group clinics per week, 1-2 private lessons, maximum of 9 hours per week • Minimum of 1 hour per clinic or private, maximum of 2-2.5 hours • Play no more than this in order to prevent burn out • 1-2 regional tournaments per month • If eligible for national tournaments, play them (no more than 3 per year) • Still treat national tournaments as adventure, inclusion of family is key • Start lifting weights and conditioning • Light weights, high repetition • No more than 2 times per week

11. Development and Recruiting Process- High School Sophomore • Continue college visits with parents • Visit between 3-4 schools in grade 10 • Continue regimen from Grade 9 with minor increases • Possibly 1-2 hours more of a combination of tennis and training • Increase number of important tournaments played • USTA has different levels of tournaments that vary from region to region • Smaller tournaments can replace practice • Importance of point construction, shot selection,

12. Development and Recruiting Process- High School Junior • The point in time where winning starts to matter to college coaches • Important to play tournaments that have value because those are filled with other players of the same level or better as you • Begin to play less in a clinic and play individually • Find other good players in your area and play with them, while having a coach watch and help you as well • Eventually, you won’t get the most out of an hour of a clinic than you will have with one on one playing • Start to play more national tournaments • If money becomes an issue, don’t worry- if you’re good, your game will speak for itself • Important to enjoy time off • When not playing tennis, do something else- music, art, pick up basketball, anything to keep your mind off tennis and to stay mentally fresh • Start to contact coaches starting July 1 between Junior and Senior year • Broadcast yourself- email coaches and include name, ranking, description of your game, and possibly a video of yourself • For video, keep it simple- no special effects, sound effects, etc., just enough for coaches to see what you got • Practice and train more • Minimum 10 hours a week of practicing, every other day weights and conditioning

13. Development and Recruiting Process- High school Senior • Coaches are allowed to contact you starting July 1 before your Senior year • Have an open mind- some schools you would not at first be interested in, but may change your mind • Official visits are allowed • Coaches host recruits on the campus of their school for no more than 48 hours, meant to give recruit a day or two in the life of a student-athlete at that school. Coaches pay for food, lodging, etc. for recruit • 5 official visits to separate schools are allowed per recruit, however a recruit can go on an unlimited number of “unofficial” visits, where coaches don’t pay for recruit • Continue with practice schedule from Junior year • Up until commitment • Create Clearing House account with NCAA • This site deems if you will be eligible or not • Verbally commit and possibly sign National Letter of Intent with school • NLI is the form in which you accept the scholarship granted to you by whichever university you are going to play for. This does not apply to Division III schools or non-scholarship positions

14. Development and Recruiting Process-Post Commitment • Continue to keep practice regimen • Acceptable to take a few weeks off during the summer prior to going to school, but allocate enough time after your vacation to prepare for your first semester • Contact other coaches letting them know you are not going to their school • Stay eligible for NCAA competition • Do not accept prize money from certain tournaments, do not accept monetary sponsorships from companies, etc. • Keep grades in school as high as possible • Possible chance for more scholarship money through academics • Play tournaments when desired • It is still important to play them in order to be prepared for the first semester of college