USTA Eastern Welcomes In Coaches, Parents and Players for Annual College Showcase Day

As junior tennis players get older and begin to look towards the next chapter in their careers, the college recruitment process is one of the biggest hurdles placed in front of them. For both the players and their parents, navigating the waters in finding the right collegiate fit is a difficult one. 

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The same applies to college coaches; searching for players to represent their program both on the court and in the classroom can be a daunting endeavor. 

To help ease that process and bridge the gap, USTA Eastern has been integral. For the last four decades, the organization has operated its annual College Showcase, which connects players, parents and coaches for a day featuring on-court match play, clinics run by college coaches, lectures from experts and more. This year’s annual event took place in November at the Genesis Health Club at Saw Mill in Mount Kisco. 

“We are excited and thrilled to hold this event every year. One of the greatest joys of my role at Eastern is watching the Showcase in action,” said Julie Bliss-Beal, Managing Director, Strategy & Competition for USTA Eastern. “I love seeing juniors develop connections with potential future coaches. Many times a student will have not even heard of a particular school and then walk away from our event adding it to the top of the list. That’s always one of our main goals: facilitating introductions.”

The Showcase runs all morning and afternoon includes an array of different activities for both players and coaches to take part in. For the second straight year, college coaches ran clinics for high school freshmen and sophomores, guiding them through a variety of singles and doubles drills aimed to mimic a typical college practice. 

Spread out across the 13 courts at the Saw Mill Club, players took part in match play, both singles and doubles, as coaches rotate around the courts and observe. This allowed players to demonstrate how they play against different types of competition, while coaches were able to see how these players handle pressure moments and match scenarios.

Kyanna Singh, who as a junior attended the Showcase as a player was there this year representing the University of Rochester where she is now an Assistant Coach for both the Men’s and Women’s tennis teams. 

“The Showcase was extremely helpful to me when I was an aspiring college player, it allowed me to demonstrate my skills in front of college coaches and gave me the opportunity to meet and have a conversation with these coaches,” Singh said. “The exposure helped me to understand how to start having conversations with coaches and it helped me navigate the recruiting process. Being on the other side at this year’s Showcase was truly a full-circle experience. I understood how critical it was for the players to make a strong impression on and off the court. As a coach, I was looking for players that not only had great skill on the court, but also had a great attitude to help them succeed at the collegiate level.”

As someone who has been both a player and coach at the Showcase, Singh knows both sides of the process, and was able to impart that wisdom onto the players she communicated with. There are many aspects of the college process that go beyond how fast someone serves or how aggressive they are from the baseline, and this is where the Showcase is so imperative for high school-aged players. 

Stephanie Marcharet, a junior at Syosset High School, is one of the top players in her age group, and she attended the Showcase. Marcharet knew what she wanted to do to impress the coaches on the court, but also gained knowledge on things such as how to connect with coaches throughout the year.

“The showcase had great lectures that explained a lot of the recruitment platforms coaches use to look at players. What was also incredibly helpful was the talk that discussed the college essay. Before that, I was unfamiliar with what I’d do when I finally come to write it since I didn’t know much about the essay,” said Marcharet. “On court I was thinking of practicing the discipline to perform under pressure, from the pressure of coaches and other people watching. When I was interacting with coaches, I was interested to learn not only about the different schools but also how to converse and relate with different types of coaches.”

The coaches come from local schools and others across the country, and range from Division I, Division II and Division III programs, creating an all-encompassing event that not only benefits the players that are destined to go to the top tennis programs in the country, but also those who are looking for the perfect balance of tennis and academics, and ones that fit their individual needs. 

For the last four decades, the USTA Eastern’s College Showcase Day has been a pinnacle event for the organization, and an integral one for its overall mission of growing the game. The 2024 edition of the Showcase was another indicator of USTA Eastern’s desire to play matchmaker for student-athletes and colleges, and continue to ease a process that can oftentimes be difficult and stressful.

After a successful Showcase, Bliss-Beal the Eastern team are back at work already on how to continue improving the event as we move into 2025. 

“As soon as the Showcase ends, we start thinking about how we can elevate the next one. We really value the feedback we receive through our post-event surveys, and we will definitely integrate what we learn from those into the planning for 2025,” said Bliss-Beal. “We always like to bring current collegiate and former Eastern players to the event to speak about their own experiences with attendees. That ended up not being a part of the schedule this year, but it is always something we try to include. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. A lot of coaches very much value the opportunity to meet so many strong players in person in one location, and I personally heard from multiple parents who were really thankful we were able to share so many great resources at the event. College athletics and recruitment can feel overwhelming, and it’s ever-evolving. People are grateful that we can help them as they begin their journey.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE USTA EASTERN COLLEGE SHOWCASE DAY