College tennis

As a little boy I had the dream of becoming a professional tennis player. Back then, of course, I didn't know what it meant to be a professional or how far it was to get there. You see your idols on TV, enjoy the game and want to play on big courts yourself. From year to year you increase your level and play in higher and higher categories. From U10 to U16, U21 and finally only in the men's area.

Even if you play nationally at the highest junior level and high active level, you are still a long way from being able to gain a foothold on the international tour. Most ambitious young players try out the professional tour for a few years (usually at 18-19 straight out of school) before taking a different path at 21-22. As a teenager it is difficult to lead the life of a tennis professional, you are still in puberty and as a young person you are usually still too inexperienced to assert yourself week after week against more experienced opponents. 

There are exceptions, but for the majority of people the jump from school to the professional tour is too drastic and ends with an early end to their career. If I hadn't played college tennis, this would have happened to me too. In the coming months I would like to tell you more about the college. Why it is an attractive opportunity for good young players, what I learned in college, how best to get into a good college and any other questions you might have.

Part 1: College sports in the USA

Imagine the University of Stuttgart playing football against the University of Munich, the public interest is so great that the Olympic Stadium is sold out. Crowds of university students and former students from both universities cheer on the university athletes in the stands. The winner earns no money from the win and even though the game takes place at 21 p.m., half of the players have to be in the lecture hall at 10 a.m. tomorrow for financial accounting. The game will be televised and there will be a live band and cheerleaders performing at halftime.

This may sound utopian to us as Germans, such a rush for university sports. Eight hours of flight and once across the Atlantic, this scenario is the order of the day.

The universities in the USA are huge, a campus is more like a small town. Due to high student fees and donations, universities have significantly more financial opportunities than in Europe. Sport is very important in the USA and is part of everyday life. As a college athlete you enjoy some privileges, including scholarships to cover the expensive tuition fees.

Tennis is not as popular in the USA as it is here in Europe, which is why college coaches are always looking for new talent from Germany to strengthen their teams.

Traditionally, even the best young US players always play college tennis for at least 1-2 years before turning professional. As a result, the level of college tennis is high, not like the top professional level, but close. Anyone who succeeds and dominates in college ends up with a bachelor's degree and the tools to become professionals. If you can't make it in college, you won't have a chance on the professional tour either. Normally, as a college player you have 4 years to develop, no matter how the sport goes, you end up with a university degree. Anyone who goes straight on to the professional tour puts everything on one card and can end up empty-handed. In college, everything is tailored to the student-athletes so they can combine training and college. The pressure and travel stress on the professional tour is significantly higher, which makes it more difficult to study online at the same time, for example.

The college tennis season is in the spring semester from January to May, and an extremely large number of matches are played here. You can spend the summer at home and compete at the professional level. Preparation for the season runs from August to December. A lot of fitness is done here and a few preparatory tournaments are played.

That was a brief insight into college tennis. Feel free to write to me if you have any questions about college tennis. In future blog posts I will discuss various aspects of college tennis.

With sporty greetings

Hendrik