It's good to see so many stories about the upcoming NCAAs surfacing in the MSM (mainstream media in blogspeak). Some are about programs, some about players, some about coaches. The Miami Herald has this article about University of Miami women's coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews. Yaroshuk-Tews, who is expecting her second child in July, recently became the winningest women's tennis coach in Miami history. Here are the final three paragraphs from the story:
The players said Yaroshuk-Tews has softened since having a child, but she still demands impeccable behavior, top-notch academics, a rigorous fitness regime and overall consistency.USA Today published this story on the University of Virginia men's program and its quest for its first national team title in tennis.
"I love the fact that they come into a program and it's not just about tennis," she said. "It's about academics and growing up as people. When they leave here they're more mature, more independent, more accountable.
"It's easy to have a great season, but it's very difficult to have a great career. That's how I come to work every day and lead my life here, making decisions for the betterment of a program, not the betterment of a season."
The San Francisco Chronicle turned its spotlight on Stanford's Hilary Barte, who explains why she put her pro tennis career on hold in favor of college. (The actual career high in WTA ranking for Barte was 455).
And finally, Jon Wertheim, who has always railed against foreign players in college tennis, does it again today in his mailbag at SI.com. I too wish the majority of players in U.S. colleges were from the United States, and that the sport of tennis was popular enough and produced enough revenue to assure its continued existence on the college level. I admire coaches who can find and develop talent here in the United States and also incorporate talented players from other countries into a team that broadens the cultural perspective of all its members. That is certainly the ideal and Jon is within his rights to call out programs that don't find that happy medium. If he uses his column as a soapbox/bully pulpit, that's fine. But I notice he did stop short of suggesting a solution, because, in this flattened world, I think he knows there isn't one--at least one that will keep college tennis as a viable option for those who want to use it as another developmental tool. My complete response to his earlier Tennis Magazine column two years ago (sorry, no link available) is here, and it, and my Racquet Sports Industry column from last year, thoroughly covers my thoughts on the topic.
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