SPORTS
SERVING UP SUCCESS FOR ALEXANDRE COTARD, COACHING IS CARING. BY WENDY FRANZEN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Alexandre Cotard, The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff ’s (RCLB) Junior Program Director and Head Tennis Professional, coaches young athletes with a focus on character-building, care, and self-esteem.
Many coaching programs and academies get lost in the process of growing the top and lose focus on growing from within. Our program’s success lays upon growth from the ground up.
“For me, it all revolves around care. Care instills responsibility in what you do. Caring for something makes you want to work harder and aspire to excellence. It goes beyond your own work. It creates respect for other’s work and builds strong friendships along the way,” says Cotard. “My coaching philosophy embraces these everyday life principles.” Alex Cotard comes from a tennis playing family. He was raised in the beautiful village of Roquebrune Sur Argens in Provence, where, he says “everyone was playing the game— grandparents, parents, and cousins. I got my first racquet at 4-years-old and remember spending a lot of time hitting against the wall.” His father was a tennis coach for the French Federation and taught Alex the fundamentals, and he naturally inherited a passion for the game. “My father taught myself and my brother, Nicholas (also on the coaching staff at RCLB), to grow and become better players, then later mentoring us to become better teachers.” He played his first official tournament at age 10 in the French Riviera on red clay. Though he doesn’t recall the outcome, he vividly remembers, “loving the vibe and the intensity, the competitiveness, the respect of the sport.”
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The U.S., for him, was always the country of sports and achievement. After moving here at age 22, drawn by a desire to “get closer to the winning culture and passion for sports,” he connected with French tennis coach Sylvain Guichard, the former head coach at Mississippi State who had become the general manager at RCLB. Guichard introduced him to a game plan of precise technical instruction, and with full support from club owners (and Lake Bluff residents) Dan Bruch and Gary Janko, he enthusiastically joined the team in 2008. Passion for RCLB, his fellow staff members, and their students is clear. Cotard shares, “As a coach, I like being on the court with our students, coaching close to the action. As a director, what truly makes me proud is seeing our teaching method and care paying off. Also, seeing the chemistry between our coaches and students on all the courts, having fun improving all the skills required by our sport, and developing self-esteem
Alexandre Cotard is Junior Program Director and Head Tennis Professional at The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN SUBAR and confidence.” He believes it is RCLB’s excellent attention to detail and the quality instruction by all 15 pros that set it apart from other clubs. “Many coaches get lost in the process of growing to the top and lose focus on growing from within. Our program’s success lays upon growth from the ground up.” RCLB’s ground-up approach results in large student retention and constant growth, from early stages to state, national, and collegiate level champions. It is important for Cotard to note, however, that the coaches “always take
| SATURDAY AUGUST 8 | SUNDAY AUGUST 9 2020
into account the needs and expectations of every player, whether they are new to the game or a nationally ranked junior player.” The satisfaction of all players is incredibly important. And with care and character at the core of their coaching ethos, it is no surprise that Cotard’s most emphatic expression is this: “On behalf of all of the RCLB coaching staff we would like to share our deep appreciation to our members and our amazing ownership for supporting us during this unprecedented time.” THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
