A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL

Tarleton tennis coach Lance Drake talks with two of his players during a tournament.

Tarleton coaches look worldwide for talent to fuel athletic programs

BY PHIL RIDDLE

College coaches in all sports are known to be resourceful in finding the best student-athletes, and Tarleton coaches bear out that reputation by casting a global net for talent.

Last year, about a dozen international students were on Tarleton rosters—golf, tennis, baseball, volleyball and track and field. European students came from England, Spain, France, Moldova and Germany. More sports talent was imported from Australia, Venezuela and Brazil.

For golf coach Jerry Doyle, recruiting international players was a way to make his team instantly viable.

“When we first came here we were just getting killed,” he said. “So, I learned about recruiting, and I realized I had to get out and get some of these really good international players.”

Doyle made the right decision. In 17 seasons at Tarleton, he has won 10 Lone Star Conference titles, nine West Region crowns and consistently ranks in the top 10 at the seasonending national tournament.

Through his years, Doyle has found a network of agents all over the world that share information about players looking to come to the United States.

“I thoroughly go over the information, look at their swings. See what kind of scholarship it will take to get her here,” Doyle said. “Once I got a couple of them over here, they found out who I was and got comfortable with me and the school. After that they had friends they recommended.”

Doyle has three top-flight international players on his team, including junior kinesiology major Casey Wild from Wodonga, Australia, who finished the season in sixth place nationally, and was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-America team.

Graduate Assistant Isabel Jimenez-Perez, another of Doyle’s international success stories, was named Lone Star Conference Player of the Year three times and national player of the year in 2016, leading the TexAnns to a fourthplace finish nationally. As a graduate assistant in the golf program, she is helping coach the TexAnns while working on earning her master’s degree in kinesiology.

Like most student-athletes moving to the United States, Jimenez-Perez had to adjust, coming from the suburbs of Madrid, Spain. Learning a new language and a different culture are challenges for most international students, but each recruit also faces unique issues.

In her case, it was communicating with Doyle, who is almost deaf.

“I thought I knew English well,” Jimenez-Perez said. “We learned English since we were about five, all the way through high school. Coach Doyle reads lips and he said I moved my mouth too fast for him to read my lips. The first year was tough, but after that we got used to it.”

The size of her adopted home state also required adjustment.

“Spain is only half of the whole state of Texas,” she said. “If I wanted to go downtown or to the airport, I had to travel about 15 minutes. Here, I have to drive an hour-anda-half.”

According to Jimenez-Perez, her time in Stephenville has swayed her to consider staying.

“I really want to find a job here when I graduate next year,” she said. “I’ve been here almost five years. I have all my friends here. Basically my life is here now.”

She teaches golf lessons and recently competed in a U.S. Open qualifier.

Like Doyle, Tarleton tennis coach Lance Drake recognized early the need to recruit globally. Drake had five international players on his roster last year. Now in his 17th season at Tarleton, Drake has led the TexAnns to nine NCAA Regional tournament appearances in the last 12 years. In 2014, his team boasted the conference and South Central Regional Player of the Year, Alicia Perez, from Murcia, Spain. “Recruiting is pretty much worldwide for us,” he said. “The landscape of tennis in Texas has changed, so it’s not as deep as it used to be. The international side tends to have a little A small world, after all more depth.” Sports agents market tennis players looking to go to college in America, a help to small-school coaches like Drake. “We can’t just jump in a plane and go over there or bring them over here and let them see the campus,” he said. “It’s contacts and the internet.” The student-athletes Tarleton recruits are excited at the prospect of coming to Stephenville. “They are very appreciative of the fact they are given an opportunity to come and pursue an education and play tennis at the same time,” Drake said. “They don’t always get that opportunity there.” Elena Preadca of Chisinau, Moldova, moved into the No. 2 singles spot for Drake as a senior last season, winning five matches and teaming up with Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Luiza Ferraro-Adas to win 13 doubles matches as the team’s top-seeded tandem. Preadca was also an Academic All-Lone Star Conference selection. When trying to entice players to join his team, Drake said he emphasizes getting a quality education at Tarleton, smaller class sizes and university traditions. “We’ll explain about Stephenville, that it’s a great place,” he said. “How the tennis program does, the rankings, what programs we offer, the whole experience.” “We are gaining a global reputation.”

Tarleton golfer Casey Wild is a 2013 graduate of Wodonga Senior Secondary College in Wodonga, Australia. She guided Tarleton to an LSC 25Championship and a West Regional Championship in the 2015-16 season.

Box T-0570 Stephenville, TX 76402 (254) 968-9000 | www.tarleton.edu

Deja View

After nearly three decades at the helm of the Tarleton State University Jazz Studies Program, Director Greg Ball retired at the end of the Spring 2017 semester from teaching and conducting. Ball began in 1991 and since then has taught more than 500 students in jazz studies courses. He and his ensembles have performed well over 400 charts — both on campus and on international stages in

London, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy and the Czech Republic.