2008 Woodie Awards
Hitting the 'sweet spot'
Kirkwood tennis club to challenge state schools
Emily Pickart
Issue date: 2/23/06 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Venus and Serena Williams all have one thing in common: They are considered by sports enthusiasts to be the "best of the best" in the world of tennis. Kirkwood Community College students now have the opportunity to work toward joining that group of greats.
Professor of English Kevin Nebergall and Rec Center Director Josh Troutman helped form the college's tennis club, new to Kirkwood this semester. Nebergall is also a Certified Professional Teacher of Tennis by the Professional Tennis Registry and is the president of the Missouri Valley section of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Since Nebergall is the president of the section in which Kirkwood will compete, he cannot be the coach but he can help the new club enter competitions and find facilities to practice.
The Missouri Valley section conducted an intercollegiate competition for club teams on Feb. 18. It was held at Drake in Des Moines and the teams played according to the World Team Tennis Format rules.
There are 16 players in Kirkwood's tennis club but only six competed in Des Moines including: Alan Mireles, Tristan Seibel, Kate Entsminger, Casey Nauman, Kelley Dotson and Brooke Lindner. The six competed in men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles.
Kirkwood scored 16 points in a pool against teams such as Washington University, among many other teams.
Even though Kirkwood's tennis club isn't officially a team, they still compete like one.
"It's more competitive [than most clubs]. Some of the players could end up on Division III teams. A couple of them were on state championship teams in high school," Nebergall said.
Freshman Mike Rodriguez has high expectations for the club. "We hope to go to UNI and do really well and hopefully we'll get in the rankings," he said.
Since the tennis club is not an official team, practicing has been a bit of a challenge.
"One problem we've had is getting people together. We wanted to use the Rec Center but it's been tied up with baseball and softball. They let us use practice balls and ball machines and I think that's the hallmark of Kirkwood: Cooperation," Nebergall said.
Nebergall has also been working to get permission for the students to practice at the Westfield Tennis Club in Cedar Rapids. Nebergall and Troutman have also been working toward supplying team shirts for the players and lining up more competition.
Freshman Alan Mireles stated he joined the club "Just to get better and to stay in shape. We hope to build a strong foundation and hopefully we'll get a few wins."
Rodriguez stated his reason for joining the club was "To be able to play, so when we transfer we'll be able to play there."
Nebergall has already received calls from both the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls and Iowa State University (ISU) in Ames. UNI would like Kirkwood's tennis club to be ready to compete as soon as possible. ISU representatives have also been in contact with Nebergall about a match but no date has been set at this time.
Professor of English Kevin Nebergall and Rec Center Director Josh Troutman helped form the college's tennis club, new to Kirkwood this semester. Nebergall is also a Certified Professional Teacher of Tennis by the Professional Tennis Registry and is the president of the Missouri Valley section of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Since Nebergall is the president of the section in which Kirkwood will compete, he cannot be the coach but he can help the new club enter competitions and find facilities to practice.
The Missouri Valley section conducted an intercollegiate competition for club teams on Feb. 18. It was held at Drake in Des Moines and the teams played according to the World Team Tennis Format rules.
There are 16 players in Kirkwood's tennis club but only six competed in Des Moines including: Alan Mireles, Tristan Seibel, Kate Entsminger, Casey Nauman, Kelley Dotson and Brooke Lindner. The six competed in men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles.
Kirkwood scored 16 points in a pool against teams such as Washington University, among many other teams.
Even though Kirkwood's tennis club isn't officially a team, they still compete like one.
"It's more competitive [than most clubs]. Some of the players could end up on Division III teams. A couple of them were on state championship teams in high school," Nebergall said.
Freshman Mike Rodriguez has high expectations for the club. "We hope to go to UNI and do really well and hopefully we'll get in the rankings," he said.
Since the tennis club is not an official team, practicing has been a bit of a challenge.
"One problem we've had is getting people together. We wanted to use the Rec Center but it's been tied up with baseball and softball. They let us use practice balls and ball machines and I think that's the hallmark of Kirkwood: Cooperation," Nebergall said.
Nebergall has also been working to get permission for the students to practice at the Westfield Tennis Club in Cedar Rapids. Nebergall and Troutman have also been working toward supplying team shirts for the players and lining up more competition.
Freshman Alan Mireles stated he joined the club "Just to get better and to stay in shape. We hope to build a strong foundation and hopefully we'll get a few wins."
Rodriguez stated his reason for joining the club was "To be able to play, so when we transfer we'll be able to play there."
Nebergall has already received calls from both the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls and Iowa State University (ISU) in Ames. UNI would like Kirkwood's tennis club to be ready to compete as soon as possible. ISU representatives have also been in contact with Nebergall about a match but no date has been set at this time.