Personal Statement
See more videos on my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSparks1027
My name is Colt Tegtmeier, and I am a 17 year-old rising senior at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, Wisconsin. I was born and raised in the city, and began my tennis career here. My goal is to win state during my high school career. With the cooperation of the Madison School District, I am taking part in a hybrid education system. This means that I am attending the first half of the school day on the school campus, then take the remainder of my classes online at home. This allows me to play and drill when court time is more readily available, and I can get my training done earlier in the day. My coach is Kalla Schaefer, and I work with her 5-7 times a week, both in hitting practice and match play against people she recommends. I also train at Hitters Sportsplex in Middleton, practicing with other elite players in the area. I am an only child, and both of my parents are athletes. Last semester, I trained at Van Der Meer Tennis Academy and completed my classes online. I am now back in Madison, working to win state for my high school team next year. From day one, I was raised to become an athlete. My family's outlook on life is to live as long as possible, and remain active throughout life.
I enjoy volunteering within my community, and try to be a well-rounded person. I strive to be competitive on-court, and a nice, caring guy off-court. As important as success in tennis is to me, being academically successful is just as important. I am an A student, and I'm driven to maintain an excellent GPA throughout my education. I help my coach teach her classes, ages anywhere from 5 to 55, of almost all skill levels. I volunteer with her around 3 hours every 1-2 weeks, sometimes up to 6 hours in the same time period.
I have been playing tennis for over a decade. I began tennis at age four, and began playing competitively around age eight. I learned my one-handed backhand at six years old, and haven't changed since. I currently train on-court for about 16 hours a week, and I train off-court around 3 hours a week. This year, I will make an effort to train even more. The hybrid schooling system gives me a chance to do just that. Three summers ago, I traveled to Hilton Head Island to attend the Van Der Meer Academy for three weeks. Finally, two summers ago I went back to Van Der Meer for six weeks. After the academy, my family took a week-long vacation on the way back to Wisconsin, and we visited many colleges. To date, I have visited 22 universities, including Duke, Virginia, Gerogia, NC State, Alabama, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Penn State, and more.
My ultimate goal is to compete with the best on the collegiate tour. First, I am focused on being the best competitor I can be at 17 years old in the U18 age division. I will continue to explore more colleges, broadening my spectrum of potential schools that I may want to attend. I am very lucky to have such a supportive family, and I will continue my athletic training, as well as keep my academic grades high, so I can ultimately attend the college of my choice.
