In the USA, college sports are part of the major sporting world, which generates huge interest from spectators from both the local state and beyond. For those living in other areas of the world, such as the UK, this phenomenon can seem strange; in Britain talented youngsters sometimes only get spotted by chance, and aren’t guaranteed to make it into seasoned teams. Whereas in America the vast majority of those who engage in college sports will make it, even before seasoned team selections. Out of all of the US sports, college tennis is arguably one of the most diverse, allowing players from various backgrounds and ethnicities to gain a sponsorship.
So why is it so enjoyable for the masses? Just like in ‘regular sports’, a lot of stiff competition and high level tournaments are in abundance, only these happen on a much more frequent basis, meaning sites like Coral can keep serving the news nonstop. That means that when news about players such as Sameer Kumar, currently a first year at Stanford College, breaks it makes the action all the more enthralling. Although Kumar breezed through the first round, he was then beaten to the finish by previous USTA winner Tennys Sandgren. What knowing this does is add another dimension to the sporting world, and thus it opens up more opportunities for general observers and avid fans.
What is more, US tennis college programmes, from any of the institutions, are ‘Olympic medal factories’, churning out a lot of talent, which in turn is ideal for a country as large as America. Seeing as there are approximately 324,000,000 people in the USA and about 65, 111,000 in the UK, it makes perfect sense to have more dedicated programmes to award those with serious talent, for without them they would probably stand less chance of being discovered.
For those of you wanting to venture into this area of sports, fear not as there are plenty of competitions still underway, most notably the ITA Summer Circuit, a five week event. Played across 26 States, a total of nine colleges host the event, one of which is Michigan who will witness their sophomore, Davina Nguyen, play. Over the years it has proven (and still is) to be a breeding ground for exceptional tennis players, and for those who manage to qualify, they will make their way to the ITA Summer Nationals that begins on August 13th at Indiana University.