ACADEMY NEWS
SDTA’s Linden Patterson commits to Davidson in North Carolina
Long time SDTA student Linden Patterson has decided to play college tennis at Davidson University in N.C. Linden has been with SDTA for the past 10 years and has finally reached her long-time goal of playing division 1 college tennis. She has competed at the state, southern and national level for many years and has been a committed student since day 1. We are super proud and look forward to seeing her take her skills to the college level where we are sure she will continue to develop.
SDTA ROOKIES EARNED SOME HARDWARE AT THE PEACH STATE GEORGIA LEVEL 1
Several of our SDTA rookies had great performances at the Peach State Georgia Level 1 junior championships in Norcross this past weekend. In the girls 18 division, Linden Patterson took 6th place in singles. In the girls 16’s division Izzy Tanjuaco takes the doubles title while finishing 4th in singles and Emily Bush reached the consolation singles finals. We had many other players that had great performances as we look to improve and take their game to the next level. We are super proud of all our rookies!
(6th place at Peach State Level 1)
(4th place singles & doubles champion at Peach State Level 1)
(Consolation finalist girls 16 & under at Peach State Level 1)
Other college tennis Playing opportunities for American kids
For many of you whom have a long-term goal of playing college tennis, there are different avenues to get this amazing opportunity. Many American kids are looking heavily into playing D I & D II college tennis. With many of the top schools having foreign players in the roster, the opportunities for American juniors are also available at the NAIA college tennis level. Many foreigner juniors are looking at the opportunity to get an education in the US, they are looking for scholarship money to help them get through school. I personally had the skills and abilities to play D I tennis but chose a different route. When I went to college, I applied so late that there wasn’t much available form a scholarship standpoint. Also, the D I schools that were looking at me like Clemson & Auburn (main campus), didn’t have much to offer me money wise. Lucky for me, I found a last second option and got a full ride at NAIA Auburn University at Montgomery (currently a D II school).
I didn’t realize how cool it was to become part of a team with many great players and friends along the way. Our team became a dominant force throughout the years as we won many nationals championships in both men and women. My point is that the NAIA college tennis offers lots of opportunities for many American juniors too. Important stats that I got form a good article on USPTA by Bill Riddle says that there are 250 NAIA schools across the country, $800 million available in scholarship help, 21 conferences and 77,000 student athletes. You can go to the NAIA website for more information.
So, if you have the passion, ability, skills, work ethic, discipline and the long-term goal of playing college tennis, make sure to open all your options by looking at many different college tennis avenues. If you are ready to improve and take your game to the next level at SDTA, we are here for you.
SDTA SUMMER ROOKIES WEEKDAY TRAINING COMING IN 2021
Great news! SDTA will be conducting summer rookies weekday training for young rookies and players of different ages and levels. Just like in our highly regarded academy, you will be getting the best coaching and guidance from many of our experience high performance coaches. We are very excited to be offering summer rookies weekday training at Harrison Tennis Center. More information will be available to everyone in January 2021.