Beyond the Baseline: Ross School Tennis Academy
For many young tennis players, finding the right tennis program or academy that offers a consistent balance of academics and tennis can be an elusive process. But if you look far out onto the South Fork of Long Island, The Ross School is providing just that.
Five years ago, the institution launched The Ross School Tennis Academy (RSTA), a high performance academy that, in a very short time, is already rivaling some of the best tennis academies in the nation.
“The main attraction is that there is no other school that offers top academics and a top tennis program in one place,” said Ross School’s Director of Tennis Vinicius Carmo. “You can go to Florida or California for good tennis academies, but the academics aren’t as strong. And you can go to boarding schools with good academics, but the tennis isn’t as strong. We have the best of both worlds here, and that’s what’s new and different about us.”
The tennis center has been around for about seven years, while the academy began about five years ago. The program began with just six players and has grown to 22 players in that short time, including players from Germany, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and across the United States.
The school was incredibly supportive of the idea of launching the tennis academy, and has even helped tailor the course schedule for the academy’s players to ensure they have time throughout the day to train. Students take their classes from 8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., have lunch, and then hit the tennis courts at 1:30 p.m. for two hours. After playing, the kids do fitness for an hour, then have study hall and dinner from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. before going back onto the courts until 8:30 p.m.
While it seems like a busy schedule, it allows the students to have a balance of both academics and tennis, and helps develop a responsibility to manage one’s time, which is imperative when heading to college.
“We thought, at first, that it would be a long day,” said Carmo. “But it turned out that it works really well. They are able to study for two hours, and having this structure keeps them focused on both academics and tennis.”
Unlike other boarding schools, The Ross School doesn’t have dorms on campus and the kids are able to stay with house parents off-campus who are usually teachers or individuals who work at the school.
“It’s a great pre-college experience,” said Holly Li, manager of The Ross School’s Tennis Center. “They stay in well-appointed beautiful homes, scattered around the surrounding area with house parents and in groups of up to 14 kids from around the world. Instead of typical boarding school dorms, this unique style of boarding really gives them the benefit of having a ‘home’ lifestyle with chores and off-campus responsibilities, combined with their on-campus academic schedule. Learning how to live independently and in this type of environment with ethnically diverse roommates is great preparation for college.”
The tennis philosophy at Ross is pretty simple: “They don’t have a specific one.” Being a smaller program, it allows for Carmo and Developmental Coach Phillip Williamson to provide individualized instruction and teaching to the players.
“I see the kids on an individual level, putting together a developmental plan for each of them,” said Williamson. “We essentially come up with a plan, similar to a financial statement, that goes over the four major areas of tennis: Technique, Tactical Abilities, Physical Capabilities and Mental Capabilities. We give every player a report that lays out their pros and cons, and then work from there.”
This sort of coaching enables players to work specifically on aspects of their game that need refinement, and ensure that it is done in an efficient and productive manner. Former Grand Slam champion Jim Grabb recently joined the Ross School staff to help players with the mental side of the game.
In the last few years, The Ross School has expanded on its already successful academy, building a junior academy and a youth academy, in hopes of developing its own players to enter the main academy. The youth academy is for grades one through four, while the junior academy is for grades five through seven.
“The level of play is increasing at the highest level here, and hopefully, we’re increasing it two-fold by developing players in our younger programs,” said Carmo. “That’s where our focus is right now. We’re recruiting and attracting higher-level players, but want to continue developing at an early level in order to create sort of a feeder program into the top academy.”
The teaching and coaching extends beyond the tennis court and the classroom, as there is an entire department dedicated to prepping for college. The department works alongside Carmo, parents and other coaches and teachers to help make the stressful college selection process as seamless as possible.
“We sit down with them and give them all the support they need,” said Carmo. “The key is finding the right school for each individual.”
In addition to its location in the Hamptons, the combination of tennis and academics and an emphasis on both are what make The Ross School such an intriguing destination for prospective student athletes.
“The location is so nice … right near the ocean,” said Hleb Maslau, tennis pro at The Ross School. “It is very quiet out here, so it’s easy for the kids to focus on academics and tennis. The School is extremely helpful in adapting the schedule to the tennis players, and if they are able to be prepared for that, they will be ready when they go off to college.”
The array of international players, both in the program as well as throughout the school’s two campuses, introduces the kids to others of differing backgrounds and cultures.
“Getting to interact with the international community and learning other cultures and points of views is awesome,” said Ross School junior Audrix Arce. “The tennis is what captured my attention, but the location is great and it has really become my second home.”
The Ross School Tennis Academy continues to grow and expand on its programs and its facilities to ensure its students the best academics and top tennis training. If you find yourself out in the Hamptons this summer, stop by the beautiful Ross School campus to see what it is all about.
