Nine things to keep in mind while searching for the right college tennis program

#1 - There are so many opportunities for college tennis—take the time to learn about all of the available options and keep an open mind.

Across the seven divisions of collegiate tennis, including junior college and wheelchair, there are over 1,700 programs that are looking for players and will provide an amazing athletic, academic and team experience for your child. It can be easy to focus on the very top NCAA Division I programs or schools at the top of the rankings reports that are published every year, but there are—quite literally—hundreds of options available to your child, and there are sure to be multiple that fit their athletic, academic and financial needs. Several divisions also overlap in terms of skill level, so a top Division III team may be just as good, if not better, than a middle-of-the-road Division II program.

Additionally, the wide range in levels ensures that collegiate tennis isn’t only for the elite. While athletes still need to be strong tennis players with a great work ethic, they can play in college even if they aren’t one of the top-ranked juniors in the country.

#3 - Educate your child on best practices for reaching out to coaches.

When a player is reaching out to a coach for the first time, it’s easy to make a mistake and send an email with too many details, or not enough information. However, some tips to keep in mind are that the emails should include their current ranking or rating, GPA, realistic tennis goals, why they are interested in the team, what major or academic program they’re interested in pursuing, and their highlight video. Note that the video doesn’t need to be fancy and include a lot of detail like footwork or the player tying their shoes; just film of warming up and points should suffice.

While this email may be sent to several coaches, your child should ensure that they have the right coach’s name and the right college’s name in the subject and body of the email—using the wrong name doesn’t make a strong first impression. 

If they don’t get a response after a week or two, your athlete may need to resend the email in case it got buried in the inbox or went to junk, but they can also call the coach’s office phone number and leave a voicemail, or even message the team on Instagram if need be.

#5 - Familiarize yourself and your child with the World Tennis Number (WTN) and the role it plays in recruiting and early college competition.

Coaches look at several factors while recruiting, from the player’s WTN to their Universal Tennis Rating (UTR), as well as high school results, USTA results, recruiting profiles, coaches and other bits of information they can get their hands on. WTN is absolutely considered, particularly as people rarely say their WTN is higher than it is. However, someone with a lower WTN who doesn’t play many tournaments may be considered as a strong candidate with a high potential for improvement compared to someone who plays tournaments every weekend and will be playing about 25 matches a year in college, so they are more likely to plateau at their current level.

However, a player’s character and values are very important to coaches, and coaches do receive emails if a player they might be recruiting yelled at an official or if they won the sportsmanship award at a tournament, so your child should always put their best foot forward while competing. 

#7 -  …And become the kind of parent college coaches enjoy.

Show that you’re invested and interested in your child’s success, but that you’re not overly involved in the process. This sounds hard, and it can be an internal struggle, but parents can abide by the rule that less is more when it comes to communication with college coaches, and while on visits, allow your child to show off their personality and give honest answers. Guide your child to make their own choices and trust them to make the decision that is right for them after discussing the potential financial implications. 

Once they’re on the team, do not contact the coach about lineup decisions or other matters, and encourage your child to speak to their coaches and support team if they have questions or concerns. Playing on a collegiate team is akin to a job, and so it is important that the student athlete can communicate with their coach—you wouldn’t talk to their boss if they were starting a new job.

#9 - Remember that this process can be stressful, and there are parts of it that are out of your family’s control, but there is an amazing program out there for your child.

There are so many amazing benefits to playing on a college tennis team, from improving your game and striving to be a better player to developing close friendships with teammates. It sets many players up for success in the long run, as recruiters and hiring managers love student athletes—they know how to be team players, work hard and manage their time. 

Each school has great coaches and teammates, and there are over 1,700 to choose from. The name on the uniform doesn’t mean everything, so look for the right fit academically and athletically, and prioritize that over the name brand. 

“There's great people at every single school…there's spots out there that need to be filled on rosters where they really want players,” Rees said. “Be very open-minded, [and] understand that there's a fit out there for everyone and there’s going to be a fit out there for you as well.”