My College Combine: The Road to Collegiate Tennis

From June 18-21, the nation’s top high school players will descend upon the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., for a chance to show off their skills in front of college coaches in the USTA All-American College Combine presented by adidas. Throughout the event, USTA.com follows second-time participant Sophia Edwards as she returns to the combine in hopes of fulfilling her dream of becoming a collegiate tennis player. 

Sixteen-year-old Sophia Edwards “played all the sports you could possibly imagine" when she was younger. It was tennis, however, that kept the young athlete engaged and playing throughout her teens. 

Edwards and her family uprooted from Scottsdale, Ariz., and relocated to  Sarasota, Fla., when she was young in order to give Edwards a greater competition pool for tennis. Ever since, Edwards has been a passionate and committed tennis player, competing in multiple national junior tournaments, and she can be found on the court everyday anywhere between one and a half hours and three hours a day. 

The rising junior, set to graduate Pine View High School in 2020, now has her sights set on taking her passion for tennis to college courts. She currently has a UTR rating of 10.66 singles, and hopes that her tennis skills along with academic accomplishments will help her get recruited to a top academic NCAA Division I tennis school. While tennis is often touted as an individual sport, the team aspect is what entices Edwards to continue to play tennis in college. 

“I’ve always loved playing spring team tournaments,” said Edwards. “I thrive on a team. It’s always been a goal of mine to play and win as a team.” 

From June 18-21,  Edwards, and the nation’s top high school players, will descend upon the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., for a chance to show off their skills in front of college coaches at the USTA All-American College Combine presented by adidas.

The combine is a national collegiate tennis scouting event, featuring 128 high school tennis players, limited to 64 boys and 64 girls, designed to give U.S. junior players exposure, knowledge and data to help in their college recruitment. Over 40 college coaches attend the event in the hopes to find a strong member for their teams. The four-day event features fitness and agility testing, off-the-court programming and a singles ‘Shootout’ tournament that will award its boys’ and girls’ champions a main-draw wild card into a future USTA Pro Circuit $15,000 event. 

USTA.com will follow Edwards on her return to the Combine throughout the event, documenting her quest on fulfilling her dream as a collegiate tennis player. 

For more information on how to make your dream of playing collegiate tennis a reality, click here to get all the information on playing collegiate tennis.