Students can feel anxious and overwhelmed when it comes to playing NCAA Division II sports. For those who wish to play tennis at a more relaxed level, the University of New Haven hosts a tennis club. The team holds practices on Monday and Wednesday. After spring break, tryouts will begin.
Cody Silverman is a University alum who started the club four year ago. He said, “When I started at University my freshman year, the club’s tennis team was really struggling to recruit and lead.”
Silverman was elected president in his freshman year, and he remained as president until his junior year. According to Silverman, the active membership grew from 5 to 30. We are now in good hands, and have great retention.
Cody shared that the most memorable and challenging experience he had was competing in Harvard University’s first sectional tournament. He stated, “This was an opportunity for our club to face great competition and it provided a wonderful bonding experience.”
Silverman encourages fellow students to join. It is a great place to get fit and meet amazing people. Silverman explained that we are changing to a more competitive team. This would be a great opportunity for anyone who played tennis in high school to continue playing tennis at the collegiate level.
Aryana Agli is a sophomore in forensic psychology and is currently the president. She spoke about her plans for the Tennis Club and stated, “The club began with a relaxed atmosphere that we tried to maintain while also pushing towards a more competitive standard.
Agli spoke candidly about her experience at the club. If you have a background in tennis but don’t want to commit to the varsity team full time, we are for you!
Other members of the executive committee include Matthew Cordel, a junior major in business management, who is currently vice president and Leanna Franco, freshman historian.
Franco said that she is happy she joined our team. I was looking for people with similar interests to me. I was able to meet some great people while doing what I love.
Cordell suggested that people with a tennis background should consider joining The Tennis Club. We have created an environment that is fun, competitive, and overall enjoyable. We have created a plan to make ourselves more competitive in order to challenge other schools. However, we still have a lot of fun during practice.
Cordell stated that Club Tennis participants should feel at home. Cordell said that off-court activities are something we are trying to integrate. We are more then a team. We are a family.
