ITA Student-Athlete Podcast: Eliot Spizzirri, Texas

Denise Dy was an outstanding college player at the University of Washington, reaching as high as No. 3 in the ITA National rankings. Denise has committed herself to learning as much as possible about the coaching profession and is committed to evolving with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. In this podcast, Denise shares why continuing education has been important to her career development, how she manages community and athletic department expectations for the program, and how she approaches recruiting now as the divide between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen.

Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a former women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players, for college tennis players, to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world.

Bo Jabery-Madison is about to enter his 20th year coaching the men’s team at American River College, which competes in the CCCAA division of college tennis. Bo has led his teams to 13 conference titles while qualifying for the CCCAA Playoffs every year of his tenure.  In this podcast Bo shares why he has stayed loyal to American River College throughout his collegiate coaching career; the differences between trying to develop players in a two-year window vs. a four-year window; the nuances of 3C2A college tennis and much more.

Richard Spurling is a former international college tennis player at FAU and founder of ACEing Autism, a volunteer-driven non-profit organization dedicated to helping children with autism grow through the sport of tennis. In this podcast Dave discusses with Richard how college coaches can help ACEing Autism fulfill their mission and goals; the many benefits of community service and how coaches can easily start an ACEing Autism program on their campuses while receiving all the help they need to get their program going.

Craig O’Shannessy is widely recognized as a world leader in teaching and analyzing tennis strategy. He has worked with numerous professional tennis players, including Novak Djokovic, throughout his illustrious coaching career. He is very familiar with the college game; playing college tennis himself and having worked with many college coaches and their programs through the years.     In this podcast, Dave asks Craig to clear up any misconceptions about the first 4 ball concept that Craig popularized. Craig also puts himself in the shoes of a college coach and discusses what would his approach to identifying talent and what he what his practice focus would be throughout the fall season of college tennis, if he were to become a college coach tomorrow.  We apologize for a bit of background noise during the early part of this podcast but stick with it, it is well worth a listen.

Tyler Thomson, the associate head coach for the UNC women’s tennis team since 2018,  served as the head women’s tennis coach at the University of Minnesota for 11 seasons and the College of William & Mary for 6 seasons. In his time at UNC, he has helped the team to one NCAA title, four ITA National Indoor Championships and three ACC Conference titles. In this podcast, Tyler shares why he made the move from being head coach after 17 seasons to an associate head coach; why building a great culture and focusing on human development trumps winning; how he keeps perspective in work and in life; his work with the ITA Women’s Hall of Fame and a whole lot more.

Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a former women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world. In today’s episode, Abi sits down with recently graduated Texas men’s tennis player Eliot Spizzirri. As the two-time ITA National Player of the Year, Spizzirri has been one of the top college tennis players at the Division I level throughout his career. He concluded the season with a 29-6 overall record, including 21-4 in dual matches, playing on the top line in all of those. Fourteen of his 29 wins came against top-50 opponents. In the fall of 2023, Spizzirri won the singles title at the ITA All-American Championships. While you listen, Abi and Eliot will discuss many different aspects of being a college tennis player, including, the transition from college tennis to the pro tour, why he decided to go to college after a successful junior career, and how Texas has developed him into the player and person he is today.

Lauren and Dave discuss a wide range of college tennis topics including Dave’s hiring as the new ITA CEO starting in January 2025, important news that coaches need to know, and what he is excited for as Fall 2024 rapidly approaches.

Jay Tee began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Cleveland State helping both programs to many achievements. After struggling to identify a head coaching role at the NCAA DI level, Jay opened up his mind to the possibility of coaching another division. In 2012 he accepted the heading coaching role for both programs at the University of Chicago where he has gone on to many accomplishments culminating in a NCAA DIII title on both the men’s and women’s side this past May.   In this podcast, Dave and Jay, discuss the transition from DI to DIII coaching, how Jay’s self-reflection during Covid allowed the teams to break through some plateaus, and finding the right fit for your coaching talents.

Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a senior women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world. In today’s episode, Abi sits down with Keiser women’s tennis player Violet Apisah. Since beginning her collegiate career at Keiser, Violet has been a part of one ITA National Team Indoor Championship in 2023 and has been NAIA National Runners-Up for the past two seasons. While you listen, Ansh and Violet will discuss many different aspects of being a college tennis player, including, why she chose to go to junior college before enrolling at Keiser, her success on and off the court, and what it is like to balance academics and athletics. We hope you enjoy this inside look into college tennis, and be on the lookout for new episodes every month for the next three months.