Murphy Harr '17 Recruiting Profile

I can’t remember a time that I have not had a racquet in my hand. Engaging in sports has always been a huge part of my life ever since I started playing tennis around the age of six. If a court was not available then I would use our garage door (much to my parents chagrin). I have played at many different levels ranging from our high school team to competing individually in state as well as regional tennis tournaments. The key aspects I enjoy about tennis is that physically I am able to push my body to increase in strength as well as endurance. Mentally tennis is very demanding and challenging but ultimately remains a sport where honesty as well as fairness are displayed throughout the match. Tennis is a small community and it gets smaller as you move up in your abilities. How you interact with your opponents is incredibly important as invariably you will meet them again on the court either as an opponent or as a fellow team member. Learning to go head to head with an opponent in a tight three set tie breaker and then being able to spend time getting to know them after has grown me as a person. Some of my current close friends I originally encountered in tight head to head competitions. I have made great friendships throughout Colorado through my participation in tournaments.

With tennis, I love the fact that I earn my results and this directly correlates to the dedication I put forth both on and off the court before a match. In the past year I have developed a passion for yoga. I started it to try to prevent overuse injuries and increase my overall core strength. I have gained so much more from Yoga than the physical aspects. I now find myself being mentally more tough and resilient in both my personal life as well as my matches. Getting to play number 1 singles and be the team captain this year has made me become a for role model in positively, integrity and school pride for my fellow team members. We have several new varsity players this year who need mentoring and guidance in how to keep our team from being not only well respected for our talent but also for our sportsmanship. I am excited as I think about starting the next level of my tennis career as a college player and I hope to be able to not only to learn from my new coaches (as well as team members) but also hope to contribute to my new college teams success in 2017.