Women's Tennis: Another Victim of Prioritization

As some of you may have noticed, there is not a women's tennis team this spring for the first time since the program began in 1999.

There are many different opinions as to why there is no team, but a few things are certain - it takes six girls to fill a team and they are not on the court for a variety of reasons. One player transferred schools, one graduated, several are on cross-cultural this semester, and some just lost interest. In addition, some girls did not play because their studies took up too much time, and academics come first, especially on the Division III level.

Last year Coach Harlan de Brun resigned as coach of the girls' team. Dave King, in his first year as athletic director, said, "My understanding is that Harlan had an increased teaching load this year and felt like he couldn't handle both men's and women's tennis."

Apparently this had no effect on the girls not having a team. If there had been enough girls interested in playing, EMU would have found a coach to lead them. Now King expects it to be a few years before a team is established again. "I would guess it to be three to five years, starting over as a club program and progressing to varsity status. The future of the women's tennis program will be largely determined by students and their interest. It will be difficult to add a program unless there is student demand."

King also stated that it is a possibility that women's tennis may be dropped altogether due to the current prioritization process. "That was one of the recommendations from the Student Life department to the Prioritization Committee, which it did accept and pass on to the President in their final report. So I am assuming it will be dropped as part of the prioritization process."

If you are currently a female first-year, sophomore, or junior and have interest playing EMU tennis in the future, contact Dave King in the athletic suite (located on the first floor of the University Commons) by calling him at extension 4646 or emailing him at david.king@emu.edu.