Coach's Corner

Q: How have you overcome adversity as a woman in college athletics as either a coach or athlete?

A: That's one of the great things about our sport. Even when you just start playing, you have to figure out how to win a set and how to win a match. So, I think overcoming adversity is something that we as tennis players—if you become a good tennis player—you've got to learn how to do that. We have to learn how to go play a tournament and still keep up with our schoolwork. It's something that gets trained in us in our sport, and I think it's all how you view it. For me, when I was graduating from Cal, I turned pro right after I graduated. At the time, that was seen as I was maybe too late because I went to college, but I saw it as an opportunity, and for me and my family, it was really important to get my degree first so that if I went out on tour and got injured, I would always have my degree. But fortunately, times have shifted a bit since I've played, and that's one of the most awesome things about college tennis; now we've got pros like Danielle Collins, who is a former successful Divison I student-athlete and graduated college, and she's a top 20 player in the world. I'm happy to see the evolution of our sport on the women's side and I think that's what makes my job fun. I try to give back because the opportunities I had as a student-athlete here at Cal helped set up my future, and my goal is to pay it forward to the next generation and help them hopefully do it a little quicker than I did.

Q: How does it feel to be the head coach at your alma mater, and how do you use your experience as a top college and pro player in your coaching? 

A: I was honored when I was given the opportunity to take over for my former coach, Jan Brogan, and I saw it as my responsibility to maintain the standard because she built the program at the start from scratch. My goal was to try to maintain it and make it better. It's a special thing seeing the campus evolve over the years, and I'll tell you, I think the dorm food is a lot nicer than when I was here! I always thought it was a really special place, but it keeps improving as time goes on. It's also fun for me when our alums come back, and I get to introduce them to the team and have them share their stories. One of them was actually here recently and some of our other alums are in coaching, including Raquel Atawo (Washington State) and Cristina Visico Hassanali (Dominican), and hopefully, that's due to the experience they had here. I feel lucky and fortunate and I enjoy coming to work every day. 

Q: Did you ever think when you were a player at Cal that you would end up coaching in Jan's position?

A: I realized it somewhere in my sophomore year. I thought it seemed like Jan had a cool job from my young eyes at the time. I knew I was going to turn pro after I graduated. That was for sure, but I thought once I'm done playing that coaching might be something I'd like to do. I also coached at a couple of other places before Cal. I started with a Division III job and coached in the Big Ten for a couple of years. I also got my MBA because I wasn't quite sure at the time, so I have two degrees from Cal and I definitely understand the school-tennis balance thing. When I started coaching, my first job was down in Southern California at Whittier, a Division III, and I had the men and the women, and I enjoyed it. It's work, but it's fun. I knew that's what I wanted to do and just tried to get better at it every year after that.

Q: What advice would you give to girls/women who are interested in becoming a coach or taking on a leadership role in tennis?

A: I think a really good opportunity to start with is trying to be a leader on your own team. When you're in college, there are a lot of great leadership opportunities, but one of the best things is when you're out there and all your teammates respect you because you show up on time every day and give your best and represent the program with good sportsmanship and integrity. That's a really good place to start. Sometimes I'd say players don't think they have enough job experience or whatever, and that may seem like a small leadership experience, but it can lead you to the next step. If people see you that way on your team, that is how you want people to see you as you go into the workforce. There are so many great leadership roles in our sport, and whether it’s on the USTA side, in college or wherever, it's there. Just continue to keep in touch with the people you meet through tennis. I think our sport is awesome and that we're kind of a really big family of people that love tennis. So, I would say keep having those conversations and continue to learn more about different opportunities because there are so many out there. I think people are graduating and think they're stuck, but a good place to start might be with your coach or someone in your athletic department. You never know where you can end up. 

That simple approach has opened the path to the opportunities that I have been given and that's how I have been able to stay in the field and approach adversity. Yes, there have been certain situations where I have felt discriminated against, but I honestly don't pay attention. I just work even harder to demonstrate my worth and work. I am happy to say that at the Academy of Art, I feel valued, heard and I can do my job 100%.

Q: How have you used your experience as a college player in your coaching?

A: I use my experience every day! I graduated in 2012 from Sacramento State, and even to this day, I remember the highs and lows and the sad and exciting moments of college tennis. One of the reasons I became a college tennis coach is because I was a student-athlete and I remember what it was like. I want my players to trust me with their tennis game and overall life.

Q: How do you balance being a head coach with your family & other responsibilities?

A: I can’t say it’s good all of the time, but I try my best every single day. I am a mother of a 3-year-old and a 7-month-old baby, and oh boy, some days it's a grind! I am thankful to have an amazing support system that allows me to be a college head coach. At the end of the day, I remind myself of my WHY? Why am I a mom and wife? Why am I a college tennis coach? It keeps me balanced and helps me be myself.  And of course, I have me days and workouts. After all, a happy mom is a happy life!

Q: How have you overcome adversity as a woman in college athletics as either a coach or athlete?

A: As a former athlete and now as a coach, I have overcome adversity through work ethic and determination. I have always been a hard worker and willing to put in the extra time, whether it meant additional hours on the court or extra hours studying for an exam. When I face a challenging job like coaching a college team, I focus on my daily efforts to help my team get better and achieve its highest potential.

As a female coach, in particular, it is crucial for me to be a strong role model for female athletes and manifest that women can pursue any career path they are passionate about. By showing up for my team every day and giving my best effort on and off the court, I hope to lead by example and encourage female athletes to achieve their goals through hard work and dedication.

Q: What does it mean to you to be the head coach at your alma mater?

A: I feel privileged that I get the chance to be the head coach at my alma mater. I cannot describe how happy I have been to be back at Sacramento State as the head coach. It’s by far the most rewarding job I have ever had. It is very special to me to get the chance to come back to the Hornet family, work with familiar faces and be able to shape the future of the tennis program. I cherish my experience as a student-athlete at Sacramento State and I hope to give my team the same experience. I am also fortunate to work with such a wonderful group of people who support me every step along the way. Everyone in the athletic department has made my transition into a college coaching career very smooth.

Q: What has been the biggest learning curve in becoming a head coach?

A: Compliance and recruiting are the top areas in which I had to learn the most. There are so many rules and regulations! Fortunately, we have a wonderful and responsive compliance team that is always available to answer my questions. I was most surprised about how many different administrative tasks a head coaching job entails. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes besides just coaching the athletes and planning practices. It’s like you are running your own business and a tennis team at the same time. College coaching has so many facets, and with all the different personalities and cultural backgrounds of each player, it is an ever-changing and evolving job. I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning new things.

Q: What has been the biggest learning curve in becoming a head coach?

A: The biggest learning curve is understanding and applying the big businesses of college athletics (our athletic department, conference and NCAA). Tennis is one of many sports in the NCAA and we want to not only represent our teams, but also our sport. 

Q: How have you used your experience as a top college and pro player in your coaching? 

A: The insight I gained through my experiences in USTA, ITF and NCAA tennis has taught me how to balance academics, tennis and outside activities for my student-athletes.  

Q: What did it mean to reach your 500th career win at Stanford? How do you measure success in your career?

A: I think Frankie (Brennan) and I both measure success on "Are we having a good season that we're currently in? Are we okay with the results of the season that we're currently in?" Personally, I think the time to look back at historical information, accomplishments and that we've won 10 and all that is later because we're in it now. If we're not comfortable with how we're doing in any particular year, we're not being successful. That's just the truth of coaching.

Q: Do you look ahead to the national championships every year as a point of how you measure success or is it just one match at a time?

A:  I measure our success by how we're developing players. To me, that's the tangible thing that we could be doing daily. What happens in the competitions and what happens at the end of the year is largely based on how good of a job did we do on the day-to-day.

The last thing we look for is a player wanting to be part of a sisterhood. I loved my experience—I played at Cal and I'm still the best of friends with so many of the girls on my team and that was almost 15 years ago! It’s the want to be part of a team culture where you have this extended family, the want to be part of something bigger than yourself and the want to represent your program, university and create these bonds that you might not be able to make if you weren't playing on the team. 

Q: How have you overcome adversity as a woman in college athletics as either a coach or athlete?

A: That's something that I'm still working on, thinking about and trying to improve on. I have been really fortunate and lucky in my tennis career to have really strong female coaches and leaders. As a player at Cal, I had a few great female coaches, including Jan Brogan and Amy Jenson, who recruited me. They were phenomenal role models while I was a student-athlete. As I graduated and went into coaching, I also coached under great female coaches like Hilary Somers (USF) and Amanda Augustus (CAL), so I got a great sense of being able to see how they managed their lifestyle on and off the court. And that is a big part of being a female coach, being able to balance everything. Even now, being at Dominican, having a female athletic director and the president of our school being female, it's inspiring to see that we have female leadership. Seeing that in our realm gives me some confidence to know that it's possible. 

I've done some female leadership conferences, and they talk a lot about how to balance it. I equate my life to a stovetop with four burners. One is you want to be a great wife and have a family life, then friends, coaching your team and coaching on the side. If all four burners are going really high, it will burn the house down. So sometimes it’s about trying to turn down one burner a little bit less than others at times. That's part of the balance that you give as a female coach.

I think that there's a lot to balance, and there's some adversity when you go to a table and you are the only female coach there. When you're a young female coach, having some confidence knowing that the experiences that you've had and trusting that you're bringing some real stuff and issues to the table is helpful. I've been lucky enough to have a lot of great female support, have several coaches in the area that I can bounce ideas off and talk to and know that we're sharing the same experiences. And I think we should be sharing these experiences so that others know what's going on.

Q: Who has been a female inspiration for you in your coaching career, and what's been some advice that's stuck with you?

A: I have two off the top of my head. The first would be my athletic director, Amy Henkelman. Especially seeing her lead in this COVID time and how much she has on her plate—I can't even imagine. She definitely leads by example. She says things, and she does it. She leads by it. And that's been really helpful for me to know that she has this work ethic of being really strong and confident, making decisions and taking ownership of whatever happens. She's been a great support system and role model for me. On the tennis side, I played for Jan Brogan, and I absolutely loved her as a coach. She really taught me about the competitive spirit side. She was so competitive. But on the other side, she really cared about you as a person, as a whole, and I found that very important as a coach. Tennis and the off-court go hand-in-hand, especially when you're in college. Those college years are a big learning period for anyone. You're learning about yourself, who you want to be and what you want to do. Jan really did that, and she brought out this great competitive, feisty side of me. She also really cared about me off the court—my wellbeing, my health. So as a coach, when I recruit student-athletes, I really want to create this relationship where they feel like I care about them as a whole being.

Q: In addition to being a head coach, you are actively teaching tennis across the community. How do you balance your different responsibilities with being a collegiate head coach?

A: My coaching at Dominican always has priority in my life in terms of coaching.  But as I've coached and been in college tennis longer, it's not just on the court. There's a big aspect of college tennis that goes off the court and takes time and emotional space as well. I've had to let go of some junior programming, and that's okay. I absolutely love college coaching. I still coach a little on the side in the Dominican community, and they're a big part of our program. We have a lot of kids and families, and I teach people from ages of three to 85. They love coming out to play, seeing the team and it's actually part of the whole program. They're a big part of the support group, so it’s nice to instill some of the coaching I do on the side into Dominican because they almost go hand-in-hand. I'll teach people, and they'll come to matches and it's fun to see the two mesh.

Back to the Top