Proud Of Our Alumni!

Success at the college level is not measured by athletic excellence alone; rather one must achieve and grow in tennis, academics and character.

One of the primary objectives of the Austin Tennis Academy is to assist each athlete in making the perfect college choice. For three former ATA athletes, Austin’s St. Edward’s University became that perfect choice.

Brett Powers, currently a junior at St. Edward’s, was recently named Heartland Conference Player of The Year. He compiled a 12-11 record at #1 singles, and a 14-10 record at #1 doubles. Powers jumped to the top singles spot after competing at lines 5 and 6 his freshman year, and line 2 his sophomore year. Along with his athletic success, Powers has achieved academically as well. Last semester, Powers earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, which was the highest of anyone on the team.

“My time at ATA taught me to be goal oriented from an early age,” Powers said. “I was always taught to constantly work toward short term and long term goals, and that translates very well to the college level where as a team you are constantly working for greater achievements.”

Mary Bain, a freshman at St. Edward’s University, was named to the All-Heartland Conference Team. Bain has compiled a 12-7 singles record at number 3 and 4 singles, and a 14-7 doubles record at the number 2 spot.

Also receiving honors, former ATA athlete and current St. Edward’s junior, Boris Barrios, was named to the All-Heartland Conference Team.

Powers, Barrios and Bain will lead the St. Edward’s men's and women's teams in their Regional tournaments starting this coming weekend. Each hopes to earn a chance to fly to Florida to compete in the National tournament the following week.

Hey Coach!

Thanks for having me out at ATA for the scholarship shootout. It was a lot of fun and really good to see everyone again. Its been far to long. Everything out there looks really great and from what I've heard people are playing well.

Looking back on everything from where I am in my life right now I realize how I took things for granted back then. You and the coaches out there do an amazing job preparing players for college life in all aspects. Not only in fitness and playing, but also in encouraging us to do well in school. College Life is very stressful, hectic, and overwhelming for most students, but since I learned early from you coaches and previous players from ATA, I am able to stay ahead and do well in my tennis and academics, and still be able to enjoy the many social opportunities that college has to offer. The one thing that I can say that is different from high school is that in college, YOU HAVE TO DO THE WORK. In tennis and especially in school. I remember in high school I could get away with doing homework 10 minutes before class and not studying for tests but still receiving an A somehow, but when it comes to college I have to do things way in advance to be able to make the high grades I want and not get behind because of my tennis travels. And because of ATA I feel used to the intense tennis and fitness.

On a side note, I have also been volunteering as a mentor/tutor at Dawson Elementary, a small school having 90% of their students living in poverty, and it has given me some real perspective on my life. I cant believe how lucky I am to have grown up in a loving, supporting, encouraging atmosphere where everything was pretty easy sailing. After working with the students and learning about their lives and what they have to go through every day, I can truly see what an amazing life I have. As many of us from ATA have heard from elders many times before, ATA is a blessing that only us lucky ones get to have and it should be appreciated every day.

Anyways, I hope the rest of the year goes well for everyone and that I will get to see you all very soon.

Thanks again,

Mary

p.s. i better see you all out here at St. Edwards in the spring for some of my matches! :)