Post by FU73 on May 2, 2020 9:50:26 GMT -5
A fascinating look behind the scenes of Stag Tennis.
Fairfield won six of its last seven conference matches in the spring of 2019, including a narrow MAAC Championship victory over rival Quinnipiac, to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. “It set the momentum for the rest of our years [here],” said Sophia Prinos, a freshman during the title run. “This is what we want every year".
MARCH SADNESS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT FAIRFIELD TENNIS AS COVID-19 STRUCK
Fairfield University’s proximity to New York City—and the metropolis’ coveted internships students crave—has always been a selling point to potential recruits. But in the ultra-competitive world of women’s college tennis, location only goes so far. So when Nick Wormley, with an extensive athletics history at nearby Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac, came to Fairfield as its Senior Associate Athletic Director in 2017, he made sure his new campus’ tennis program was one prospects would have a tough time turning down. That meant additional tournament travel, stylish gear (adorned with the school’s mascot, a stag) and rebranded, red-on-grey tennis courts.
It also meant personal connections—to alumni, for networking opportunities, and to the team’s do-it-all coach, Jeff Bricker. Like Wormley, Bricker has Connecticut tennis running through his veins, with bloodlines from Yale (where his stepfather was the men’s tennis coach for 30 years), Sacred Heart (as a player), Quinnipiac (where he went to law school) and the University of New Haven (as a coach for three years). He’s a Jeff of all trades.
In terms of success, Bricker’s current situation might be the most challenging he’s faced. For one, he coaches both the men’s and women’s teams at Fairfield. At practices, the 41-year-old’s head is on a swivel, with the women hitting on one side and the men on the other. And with just one assistant, Bricker traverses courts during matches like a roving reporter, doing as much as he can with each of his players in a limited amount of time. The teams’ seasons begin in late September and continue, with sporadic interruption, through late April.
“By the time the end of the season comes,” Bricker said during a February practice, “I need a break.”....Such is the life Bricker has chosen: heading a mid-major school in NCAA Division I tennis. Fairfield, a private university with about 5,000 students, is by no means wanting for resources, but its tennis program isn’t fully funded (a fully-funded women’s tennis program offers eight full scholarships), which will always keep it a rung below the blue bloods.
“We want to bring in the best and the brightest,” Bricker said of his recruits, “but we also have to coach them up. We have to develop them. We have to come up with different ways to bridge that gap.”...
Bricker crafted a more challenging schedule for his teams in 2020, including a spring trip to the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. It was the kind of travel Wormley had built into the program on an annual basis to help recruit Fairfield’s future, while also bolstering its present.
“Spring training is the time when everyone’s got their head on straight,” said Wormley. “We’ve got four great matches and we’ll come back better.”
“By the time we get to our conference,” added Bricker, “we’re going to be ready to go, battle-tested.” On March 6, Fairfield was four days away from playing its first match in Lake Nona. I wished Bricker good luck. We shook hands.
AND THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED.....
Read more:
www.tennis.com/pro-game/2020/04/march-sadness-inside-look-fairfield-tennis-covid-19-struck/88288/
Fairfield won six of its last seven conference matches in the spring of 2019, including a narrow MAAC Championship victory over rival Quinnipiac, to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. “It set the momentum for the rest of our years [here],” said Sophia Prinos, a freshman during the title run. “This is what we want every year".
MARCH SADNESS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT FAIRFIELD TENNIS AS COVID-19 STRUCK
Fairfield University’s proximity to New York City—and the metropolis’ coveted internships students crave—has always been a selling point to potential recruits. But in the ultra-competitive world of women’s college tennis, location only goes so far. So when Nick Wormley, with an extensive athletics history at nearby Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac, came to Fairfield as its Senior Associate Athletic Director in 2017, he made sure his new campus’ tennis program was one prospects would have a tough time turning down. That meant additional tournament travel, stylish gear (adorned with the school’s mascot, a stag) and rebranded, red-on-grey tennis courts.
It also meant personal connections—to alumni, for networking opportunities, and to the team’s do-it-all coach, Jeff Bricker. Like Wormley, Bricker has Connecticut tennis running through his veins, with bloodlines from Yale (where his stepfather was the men’s tennis coach for 30 years), Sacred Heart (as a player), Quinnipiac (where he went to law school) and the University of New Haven (as a coach for three years). He’s a Jeff of all trades.
In terms of success, Bricker’s current situation might be the most challenging he’s faced. For one, he coaches both the men’s and women’s teams at Fairfield. At practices, the 41-year-old’s head is on a swivel, with the women hitting on one side and the men on the other. And with just one assistant, Bricker traverses courts during matches like a roving reporter, doing as much as he can with each of his players in a limited amount of time. The teams’ seasons begin in late September and continue, with sporadic interruption, through late April.
“By the time the end of the season comes,” Bricker said during a February practice, “I need a break.”....Such is the life Bricker has chosen: heading a mid-major school in NCAA Division I tennis. Fairfield, a private university with about 5,000 students, is by no means wanting for resources, but its tennis program isn’t fully funded (a fully-funded women’s tennis program offers eight full scholarships), which will always keep it a rung below the blue bloods.
“We want to bring in the best and the brightest,” Bricker said of his recruits, “but we also have to coach them up. We have to develop them. We have to come up with different ways to bridge that gap.”...
Bricker crafted a more challenging schedule for his teams in 2020, including a spring trip to the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. It was the kind of travel Wormley had built into the program on an annual basis to help recruit Fairfield’s future, while also bolstering its present.
“Spring training is the time when everyone’s got their head on straight,” said Wormley. “We’ve got four great matches and we’ll come back better.”
“By the time we get to our conference,” added Bricker, “we’re going to be ready to go, battle-tested.” On March 6, Fairfield was four days away from playing its first match in Lake Nona. I wished Bricker good luck. We shook hands.
AND THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED.....
Read more:
www.tennis.com/pro-game/2020/04/march-sadness-inside-look-fairfield-tennis-covid-19-struck/88288/