It’s About More Than Hitting Tennis Balls

An Austin Tennis Academy Alum is behind one of the latest volleys launched in the battle to get St. Edward’s University to reconsider the decision to eliminate six of its athletic programs. Chase Bartlett is an exiting senior who played on the SEU’s Mens Tennis team, which is one of the programs scuttled amid financial concerns engendered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bartlett posted a video on his FaceBook page which he called an Open Message to the President of St. Edward’s University and its Board of Trustees. After that message became public, Coach Jack Newman responded with a supportive message to his former primary student. “My initial reaction was one of pride,” said Coach Newman.  “As a coach, you do not get to see the results of your work until long after that work has concluded.  I felt pride at any impact I might have had on his character that led to this message.”

Coach Newman points out the two of them had spoken about opportunities Bartlett’s teammates might have in regards to transferring, but did not know his former student was going to post the message. “He did not consult with me about it other than a conversation about his teammates, but I am happy about that. Our goal as educators is to produce independent thinking and acting adults.  Mission accomplished!”

“As an exiting senior, Chase has his life planned out for the next step,” said Coach Newman. “His speaking out is really for his teammates and future students of SEU.” Coaches, players and alumni of SEU have banded to together in hopes of uncovering a different solution. One of the school’s golfers, started a petition to reinstate the six programs, and Bartlett encourages people to sign. They want to get 25,000 signatures, and that’s more than six times the size of SEU’s student body.

There have been at least 9 students from ATA attend St. Edward’s over the years, including Tommy Collins, the Head of English at ATA College Prep. Both the Men’s and Women’s Tennis coaches at St. Edwards are former ATA coaches. “Coach Estevam Strecker and Coach Kendall Brooks are outstanding human beings as well as terrific tennis coaches,” said Coach Newman. “It saddens our entire community their teams got cancelled.”

“This decision at SEU should give many college coaches pause.  Coach Strecker and Coach Brooks are exemplary coaches with programs that have improved each year for the past 4 years.  Their rankings are the highest they have ever been.  If these two coaches’ programs can be cut, I would think other coaches would feel some trepidation about the security of their own programs.”

Coach Newman admits he’s concerned that many more college tennis programs are in jeopardy.  He believes current players will find it more difficult to get a spot, especially at D1 programs where last year’s seniors can return for another year without penalty.  This new reality is just one of the reasons Coach Newman is working overtime, continuously reaching out to college coaches in hopes of ensuring as many ATA players as possible will achieve their dreams of playing collegiate tennis.

Anyone who spends any amount of time at ATA knows Coach Newman and his staff develop much more than just the skills needed on court in their players. “Tennis is a tool to shape lives,” said Coach Newman.  “Our goal is to help students learn valuable lessons through training and competition that we hope will serve them in the bigger world outside of tennis.”