How to Help the Best NCAA Tennis Players Go to Professional Level

I received the following opinion from the former NCAA and now ATP tennis player Will Boe. Let’s read and discuss it.

How to Help the Best NCAA Tennis Players Go to Professional Level

I’m currently ranked around 1000 in the world on the ATP/ITF computer (which in 2013-2014 means having 11 ATP points).

I turned 30 in November and have been playing tennis since age 5…coaching started at 7. My tennis history is too long to illustrate here, but suffice it to say I’ve trained and coached for a long time, all over the world.

My point in writing this post is that I believe the NCAA is an untapped and under-valued market for the USTA player development.

I won an NCAA DIII singles championship my senior year at Bates College and didn’t get so much as an email or a phone call from the USTA inviting me or encouraging me to come and train at a training center.

After graduating, I didn’t know how or what to do in terms of “going pro,” all I knew was that I was #1 in New England as an 18 yr old, was #1 in DIII as a 22 yr old and wanted to become a professional tennis player. I knew I needed to make training my job and had to raise my level up significantly if I wanted to compete with the best in the world. I knew I needed help, but there was nobody there to help.

I think the USTA player development office needs to automatically enroll or invite the top NCAA DI-III players to their regional/national training centers. Give them 6-12 months of free room, board, and training. After the 6-12 months, make an assessment. Which players are advancing and which ones aren’t? Cut the losers and keep the winners.

The top 100 is getting older and older. The days of teens in the top 10 is gone forever. The USTA needs to stop gambling with millions of dollars on one player and hope he/she becomes a grand slam champion and instead focus on developing dozens of players into top 100 level and then maybe one of those players will rise up above the rest and become a champion.

I strongly believe that a 6-12 month rigorous, professional level training program specifically targeting the top 20 DI, top 10 DII and top 4 DIII singles players (men and women) will be a big help in not only bringing together some of the country’s best collegiate players, but also provide some educated and more mature players to the training environments at the predominately junior filled tennis training centers.

Cheers, Will Boe

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