Tara Snyder's Impact Remains Strong After Her Playing Career

Snyder had another stellar year in 1999, this time reaching the semis in Quebec City - where Rubin avenged her loss to Snyder the year prior. At the Quebec City event, she defeated then world No. 10 Amanda Coetzner. In 1999, Snyder also reached the third round of the US Open. In the second round, she and opponent Emmanuelle Gagliardi went to a first-set tie break that would soon become the longest tie-break in WTA tour history, lasting 40 points. Snyder dropped the tie-break, but rallied to defeat Gagliardi 6-7 6-1, 6-1.

It was this tenacity and drive that really drove Tara throughout her career, from junior tennis up through her professional career. She refused to give up or stop practicing until she felt something was up to her standards. This wasn’t lost on her coaches.

“What I admired so much about her was what I mentioned earlier, her discipline and her commitment, her dedication every single day,” Haygarth said. “There were times where she wouldn't let us leave the court until something was perfect, and it would be hours and hours, and I'd be like, ‘Tara, it's enough,’ and it wasn't enough.”

The Pan American games also came calling for Snyder in 1999. Snyder had a great tournament, coming away with the silver medal. Other career highlights include victories against Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis and Marion Bartoli.

In 1995, Snyder spent her rookie year in WorldTeam Tennis with the Wichita Advantage. After a three-year hiatus, Snyder joined the St. Louis Aces for two seasons. After that, she joined the Kansas City Explorers in 2000, followed by a stint with the Springfield Lasers in 2002. In 2009, she joined the Kansas City Explorers where Haygarth served as the team’s coach. She also played for the Texas Wild in 2013.

Injuries eventually took their toll on Snyder, forcing her to retire early. But with her passion for the game, it wasn’t long before she found new ways to give back to the game that gave her so much. 

“She immediately looked at ways to give back. She started working with some very high-level juniors in the Texas area, mentoring them, coaching them, you know, guiding them through their junior careers and watch them, you know, get into top colleges and go through that,” Haygarth said. “And then on top of that, she was nominated to serve on the nominating committee, the USTA Nominating Committee which is quite a big deal there.”

Snyder took immense pride in being able to give back after her playing career was over. She spent seven years on the USTA Nominating Committee from 2009-2012 and again from 2016-2018, where she was highly respected by her peers and the board. She also went back to school at the University of Missouri to get her Master’s in Psychology, focusing on Positive Coaching. She used that experience to go around to local schools and talk to coaches and players and inspire them to continue working toward their goals. Her impact is still alive and well in Wichita to this day.

“There's a lot of kids in Wichita that even to this day I'll go and someone's either playing pickleball or tennis, they're like, ‘I wanted to be like your sister, like, I never could, but I tried.’ So there were a lot of people that looked up to Tara,” Darren said.

As great as her playing career was, Snyder’s impact on tennis goes far beyond just her playing accolades. She still impacts the game to this day in a myriad of ways, always giving back to the game that has given her so much in her life.