My recruiting story sure is a unique one. I was born in Miami, Florida and moved to Germany at age 8. I attend Wuerzburg American High School on a US Army Base. I grew up and started playing tennis at age four on the green clay courts at Royal Palm Country Club in Miami with my Grandmother who was a pro for 31 years and a professional umpire. After arriving in Germany I had to make the transition to the slower red clay courts in Europe. I continued to take private lessons at the Waldfriedhof Tennis Zentrum. After gaining interest in team sports I decided to take some time off of tennis and play soccer, basketball and hockey. I played soccer for a German Club Team SV Heidingsfeld 1919 and hockey for HC Schweinfurt. At this point I had put Tennis on the backburner after competing at an intense level in my younger years. I was still playing Tennis but not nearly at the level that I was in my younger years even though tennis could have been my best sport at the time.
In high school it was decision time of what sports I wanted to play. Soccer was a given because it was played in the spring but for fall sports it was tough for me because the opportunity to play for a successful football team with my friends or to be on the tennis team. I chose playing football and ended up winning a State Title my senior year while receiving All-State Honors. I played golf my sophomore year as well. In soccer I was named All-State my junior year. Being a Florida resident I contacted schools in my home state and took two official visits to schools who offered me athletic scholarships to play soccer. It was such a relief to think that I was set to go.
However, before I accepted the scholarship I asked about my playing opportunities and the news I got was not what I wanted to hear. I then turned my recruitment in a different direction and looked at some DIII schools where I had the chance to play soccer right away. The choice for me was the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa. Coach Jason Berna provided me with the opportunity to play from the minute I stepped on campus and to me that was more important to me than having a free education while having to wait to play. Unfortunately, I had a devastating injury to my right wrist my senior year of high school which ultimately ended my tennis career. Coach Berna did everything he could to take care of me since I arrived on campus a few days late and with a cast on my right arm. I didn't feel like the other coaches were as supportive as Coach Berna. The decision I made to attend the University of Dubuque I believe was the correct one because I got to play a lot more soccer there than I would of at the schools that had offered me scholarship money. I got what I wanted out of my college experience and went on to coach tennis at my alma mater for three years. Although my recruiting story has a happy ending, it sure would have been nice to have help from professionals to help me through the process.