Brooklyn Lech spearheads Creighton University's new Tennis On Campus team

During the USTA Missouri Valley Tennis On Campus Fall Invite last month in St. Joseph, Mo., a new club team was playing on the courts donning royal blue and white tennis apparel. Creighton University’s club tennis team made its debut at the tournament.

“Everyone was so welcoming and kind, which helped our team have the best weekend,” said Brooklyn Lech, the team’s captain. “We performed pretty well for it being our first tournament, which gets me excited for the future. Because I think our team can play some great tennis and compete well against high-level teams.”

Lech is a junior at Creighton studying occupational therapy. From Omaha, Lech attended Millard West High School, but she didn’t pick up a racquet until her sophomore year. She’s been hooked ever since.

She decided to organize a club tennis team at Creighton when she realized others also were interested in playing. At the first practice, close to 50 people showed up to play.

“It has been a difficult journey trying to figure out where to practice because Creighton does not have courts on campus,” Lech said. “There’s a lot of students interested in participating in club practices, so I needed to find a place with enough courts for all of us.

“I want to make sure that everyone of all skill levels gets the opportunity to play. So far, we have been practicing at Koch Tennis Center.”

Koch has more than 20 outdoor courts, but not everyone on the Creighton club team has a vehicle, Lech said. So far they’ve been able to make it work by carpooling. During practice, Lech separates players by who wants to play competitively and who wants to play socially.

“The thing I enjoy most about this team is the relationships and connections,” she said. “Everyone is so positive and uplifting, which creates an amazing environment to play tennis.