HighFIVE: Sandra Lucero-Jacquez

In 2001, the captain of Sandra Lucero-Jacquez’s USTA league team moved to Florida. Knowing that the team would dissolve if someone didn’t take over the role of captain, Sandra stepped up and has continued to do so ever since. The New Mexico native has captained more than 100 teams in the past 23 years ranging from Women’s 18+, 40+, 55+ teams, both in Daytime and Twilight leagues, to Mixed 18+ and 40+. 

Sandra’s love of tennis started when she and her older brother would hit at the local rec center in Santa Fe when she was a teenager. She played in high school as well as a few years at the University of New Mexico, with both experiences contributing to her enjoyment of the team aspect of competitive tennis. After college, Sandra took a hiatus from tennis, but after moving to Colorado in 1994 for her job as a software engineer with IBM, she picked up a racquet and started playing with work colleagues.

“This evolved pretty quickly to playing in my first women’s league. I enjoyed the people, the exercise and the competitive play so I continued to play more leagues and got very involved with my local tennis community,” says Sandra.

To say Sandra is involved with the tennis community is an understatement. Last year, she captained nine teams and plans to do the same this year. Considering that USTA Colorado runs 13 leagues throughout the year, Sandra’s commitment and involvement is exceptional. Perhaps most impressive, is how seamlessly Sandra runs her teams.

Mary Brennan, USTA Colorado District League Coordinator says “Sandra is a captain extraordinaire! She brings new players into league tennis and gets people out playing and facilitates friendships. She is so well liked in the tennis community because of how kind she is on and off the court.”

In addition to the personal relationships that Sandra has built within her teams, she brings an analytical angle to her captain role. In addition to developing systems which allow her to organize and manage multiple teams efficiently, she says, “I really enjoy the strategic planning that goes into scheduling competitive lineups week to week. We are always very competitive in our flights, and we often go to District playoffs. I have had many Mixed teams make it to Sectionals and one Mixed team that made it to Nationals.”

While Sandra has had tremendous success, she does admit that there can be some challenges with being captain. “The biggest challenge with captaining so many teams is meeting all the deadlines for submitting minimum rosters, especially the initial leagues, as they all hit at once. But I am lucky that I have a great core of players, both women and men, which helps when forming all these teams, since many play on multiple teams.”

With league season about to get underway in Colorado, Sandra will play cheerleader for her teams during the early part of the year as she will be having “much needed” knee surgery in April, but the 4.0 player is eager to get back on the court with her teammates as soon as possible. She says “I have been captaining a lot of teams for a very long time. As I get older, I have really come to cherish my friendships with people who I have played with for so many years. They are the best part of league play and I love them all!”