WHM: Q&A with Lynne Rolley

In celebration of Women's History Month, USTA NorCal is sharing stories of those who are changing the game. Throughout the month, USTA NorCal is celebrating many of the great women that make up our NorCal tennis community and highlighting their personal tennis stories, unique perspectives and contributions to our sport. 

Meet Lynne Rolley, having spent 15 years with the USTA, they were able to coach different tennis players of every level in the game, from novices, to Grand Slam champions like Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport. During their impressive career, they quickly rose from national coach to director of women’s tennis, and coached Team USA as Fed Cup, the PanAm games and other international competitions.

Rolley's expert coaching experience of over 50 years only compliments the fact that they has been involved with Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) for more than 35 years. Rolley being the seventh chair of the PTR, and the second woman to lead the organization in that positon, she was unanimously elected to serve as the chair of the organization’s Board of Directors in February.

Rolley recently joined USTA NorCal to talk to us about their experience as a female coach in their Tennis career.

Q&A with Lynne Rolley

Q: You were the first female NCAA D-1 tennis coach when you coached the men’s tennis team at St. Marys in Moraga, what were the biggest lessons you learned from that experience as a woman in a leadership role?

A: The main thing is, I was so young at the time, and just learning from other professionals and following their examples was very important. I had really great role models. Working at a University for instance, our basketball coach was Bruce Hale at the time, and Rick Barry was on the team. These guys were truly experienced professionals so being part of an athletic department, and one of the few females, was an opportunity for me to really learn from experienced professional coaches. Again, that's the only way to really approach a job, and I was only in my early twenties at the time, so it was very interesting.

Q: How have you overcome adversity as a woman, a coach or an athlete?

A: I didn’t have any. I really just worked hard to be good. Do a good job, you're going to make mistakes and you own them. Just keep moving forward.

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

A: Well I think first of all, you want to be as good as you possibly can be, and continue learning in your craft, whatever it may be. You'll learn every step of the way, and you'll learn from other experts. So take their advice. Keep your eyes and ears open.