Champions’ Club
The UCLA club tennis team recently won its first national title at the 2011 United States Tennis Association National Campus Championships by defeating Florida 30-19 in the championship match. The club was created in 2003 and now has more than 100 members, who are divided into a competitive and general team.
By Jason Wang
April 19, 2011 12:04 a.m.
In a school known for its perennial success in athletics, one of UCLA’s strongest teams is quietly growing on the courts of the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
But the UCLA club tennis team was anything but quiet when it made a statement in this year’s United States Tennis Association National Campus Championships, bringing home the club’s first national title on April 9.
Playing under the World Team Tennis format of play, the coed squad cruised through the 64-team tournament in Cary, N.C., winning all seven of its matches, including a dominant 30-19 victory over Florida in the championship match.
Though the club sent only its top eight players to compete in nationals, it boasts more than one hundred members. The club has grown to have two main emphases: general club play and competitive play. These two levels exist because of the different skill levels of the players, a natural result of the rapid growth in the club’s size.
Mark Otten, one of the club’s coaches, has been an integral part of the club’s growth since its inception in 2003. As a graduate student at UCLA, Otten worked with UCLA Recreation to form the Intramural Tennis League in 2002. The following fall, Otten started taking steps toward forming a club team to compete in regional and national tournaments, all while participating on the team.
“I actually played on the team for four years as I was helping organize at the same time,” said Otten, who helped form the club with former coach Anthony Horsley. “After I graduated, I’ve been coaching and volunteering for the past four years … just spending a lot of time with the club.”
Most of Otten’s time is spent at Cal State Northridge, where he is an assistant professor in psychology. The dedicated coach commutes to LATC in the evenings and weekends to assist the club.
“This is sort of my recreation while I’m teaching over there,” Otten said.
It is this type of passion for tennis and collaborative effort that has propelled the growth of the club. In just eight years, Otten and the coaches have helped develop the club into a national powerhouse. In addition to winning its first national championship this year, the team has made four appearances in the club national Final Four and has won regionals six times.
Otten noted that with club sports, it is hard to find consistency within a program. But the tennis club has seen consistent improvements with each new team.
“Every year, you get teams that are good one year and not the next. It’s a little unpredictable,” Otten said. “In terms of a competitive team, we’ve been able to reload. But this year, our team had more talent than ever before. It was pretty exciting to watch, and it made my job easy.”
The team made Otten’s job more than easy during the championships by never trailing in a match. The Bruins were led by the strong efforts of both experienced and new club players.
Michael Hui, a second-year French student, had one of the stronger performances during the national championships. In high school, Hui participated in tournaments across the state and the country, but he had to sit out most of last year recovering from injury. Like many of the members, Hui was able to bring his past experience to the club and continue playing at a high level.
“I joined the club to just keep practicing, keep having the opportunities to get better,” said Hui, who noted that he was not very familiar with how competitive the club was before joining. “When I went to the practices, (coach) Grant Chen brought a lot of intensity to the courts. I knew right then that it was going to be a good practice. It was a good atmosphere from the start.”
That same intensity and competitive atmosphere was present at a much larger scale during the national championships, as hundreds of fans and participants packed the stands of Cary Tennis Park and Duke University’s Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center to watch UCLA face Florida for the title.
“All the schools were watching us in the finals, and the stands were all filled,” said Tricia Mar, a first-year undeclared student who was also part of the national team. “It was really competitive, and it definitely made it more exciting.”
Like Hui, Mar came into the club with considerable tennis experience, but noted that she had not played on a stage as great as the club championship.
The success the club had at the tournament was a testament to the strength of the competitive team. But to attract the talented players, the club has taken different approaches to get students to join, from participating in the Sports Jamboree to promoting via its website and Facebook page.
Some of the coaches even actively recruit players during the season.
Mar heard about the club through one of the club coaches at UC Irvine, who recommended that she join UCLA Club Tennis. The main draws for her to join were to be able to continue playing tennis and stay in shape. Mar noted that she was initially unaware of the tournaments the club participated in, but now she looks forward to them.
First-year undeclared student Tianna Wilson attended the first general club meeting to get a feel of the club and sign up for tryouts. In high school, Wilson participated in many USTA tournaments in addition to playing the No. 1 spot on her school team. For her, the competitive aspect was one of the main draws to joining the club.
“When I found out there was a competitive team, I just wanted to try out,” said Wilson, who has been playing tennis since the age of 5. “The level of competition definitely exceeded my expectations … it was better than high school.”
Wilson and the Bruins got their first real taste of high-level play during the Southern California Campus Championship, the local tournament preceding the nationals.
“We had little competitions before that were really laid back,” Wilson said. “But regionals was completely different. Everyone was serious and we played some really good matches. Everybody brought their A-game.”
The club sent 16 of its top players to regionals to compete against teams such as USC and Cal Poly before cutting the team down to the eight that won the national title.
Now that the bar has been set, the club’s competitive goal is to repeat as national champions. Otten reiterated that with club sports, it is difficult to predict how a team will fare year-to-year. However, one thing has stayed true within the club.
“In terms of the club itself, it’s a really good social group,” Otten said. “I don’t know if it’s the primary goal, but I think what ends up being what people remember the most is the friends they make.”
But if the club is able to attract the type of talent it did this year, it is sure to make another run for the title.
“If we get better, then I like our chances,” Otten said.
