Marla Cole captains USTA Oklahoma 2.5 women's team from beginners to nationals

A Captain by Accident

Cole didn’t exactly set out to lead a team. She had been helping a friend co-captain a team when her friend was bumped up to 3.0. That left an opening on the 2.5 team and, somewhat unexpectedly, Cole stepped in. By 2025, Cole was in her second year as a captain, but she was still relatively new to the responsibilities and nuances of leading a league team.

“No one at the time really wanted to do it,” she said. “And I naively thought it was just setting up the organization of the team with lineups and putting in scores. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”

She quickly discovered that being a captain involved considerably more than paperwork. Cole spent countless hours thinking about lineups and watching players compete, trying to determine which combinations might work best. When she didn’t know an answer, she asked questions. She also reached out to more experienced players and coaches for guidance.

The message was equally simple: Do what we’ve been doing. Win.

On the final day of sectionals, the stakes became clear. The team needed to win two lines to take the championship. Cole and her partner finished their match quickly, leaving them to watch and wait.

“It was so exciting and tense because we knew what was at stake,” Cole said.

Then came the news. Both remaining lines won. The team had done it. They were section champions.

“The most amazing feeling that we as a team won sectionals,” Cole said. “It was so fun.”

The celebration was every bit as memorable as the matches themselves. The players formed a tunnel, and the final group to finish their matches ran through as their teammates chanted and yelled.

For Cole, the transformation has gone far beyond learning how to hit a tennis ball or compete in a league match. She has always loved tennis. But when she first began playing, the sport represented something else, too.

“I felt like after raising a family and working, it was the only thing I had ever done just for myself,” she said.

Trusting the Captain

As the team moved deeper into the season and prepared for postseason play, the players’ trust in Cole became increasingly evident.

“They are all so appreciative,” she said. “And once we made the turn and started preparing for post-league play, they have trusted me to make decisions.”

That trust has meant a great deal to her. When she asks a player if she is willing to play singles, for example, the response isn’t an argument over position or preference: “I will play wherever you need me to play.”

“That is overwhelming to me,” Cole said.

The team’s sense of unity also extends beyond the players who were able to compete in the postseason. Not every member of the team was able to participate in those matches for various reasons. But when the team received its championship banners, every player’s name was included.

“It was all of us that contributed to the winning season,” Cole said. “That makes everyone part of the journey.”

That may be the most remarkable part of Cole’s story: she still remembers how intimidating it felt to simply begin. She remembers being scared when she attended beginner lessons. But those lessons, she said, are exactly where new players can find the help and answers they need, along with other people who are learning right alongside them.

She never imagined where that first step would eventually lead. Now, she’s preparing to travel to nationals with the team.

“I certainly didn’t start out thinking about where this journey would take me,” Cole said. “Just take the first step.”

There is one phrase the team has heard repeatedly as it prepares for nationals: they’re ‘playing with house money.’

In other words, they have already accomplished far more than they expected. They have already won. But that doesn’t mean they’re simply going to nationals to enjoy the experience.

“There isn’t anyone else I would rather be going to nationals with,” Cole said.

She described her teammates as a group of women who have fought hard side by side, learning not only how to compete but also how to keep going when things get tough. And while they know they’ve already achieved something special, they’re not planning to back down when they take the court at nationals.

They earned their place. And now they’re ready to do what they’ve been doing all season.

“Compete, have fun,” Cole said. “And win.”

Check out the list of USTA Missouri Valley League Section Championship winners here. Learn more about USTA Oklahoma leagues here.