Earlier this year, Coach Newman invited six ATA alumni members who work in Austin to participate in a panel discussion so current ATA students could see how some of the life lessons they are learning have been applied in real life. The goal of having current ATA students witness firsthand the powerful outcomes that result through the positive processes the ATA program offers was accomplished in a powerful way through this panel discussion. Many of the ATA coaches who attended were impressed by the articulate and insightful nature of the comments shared by the alumni members. Through the stories they shared, each of the alumni members communicated that the ATA culture and the process of competing in junior tennis had been their primary driver of success.

Many of the alumni members contributed specific thoughts on the qualities they learned from junior tennis and ATA that has helped them succeed in the workforce. Ryan Berber, who was on the tennis team at Claremont McKenna and is currently an Investment Associate at Nicoya Capital, said he learned how to stay calm under pressure through competing in junior tennis and that he never gets rattled in his job. Santiago Montoya, who played for Notre Dame and now serves as Chief Investment Officer for A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, talked about learning how to rebound from failure since most tennis players lose frequently. This resiliency has helped Santiago in his professional career. Whitney Waters, who earned All-American honors at University of Redlands and currently serves as the Director of Marketing for AlertMedia, shared how learning how to lose with humility has been invaluable given the fact that you lose deals in business. Blake Davis, who played in the starting line-up all four years at Florida State and now serves as an analyst for Elberon Investment Fund, talked about how the competitiveness that was his biggest strength in tennis has also allowed him to enjoy professional success. Blake got the attention of the ATA students by telling a poignant story about his first job out of college with Wells Fargo’s Investment Banking division. Blake shared that despite the fact that the vast majority of the people who were in the year-long training program were Ivy League graduates, more than 50{37ef6ac642fae6f93f343032eb62785d28fa7a25a4a4f0267a12512c541c53a9} of his colleagues could not handle the rigorous demands of the program and either quit or were fired. Blake attributed his competitiveness and desire to win at everything he did for allowing him to succeed in the training program, while many of the Ivy League graduates couldn’t handle it.

The panelists also shared their most significant takeaways from being in the ATA program that have benefitted them after their tennis careers ended. Santiago Montoya mentioned how his discipline was shaped at ATA and is now infused in his core. Santiago, like several other panelists, also talked about the goal setting he learned under Coach Newman. Whitney Waters emphasized learning to put the process of pursuing excellence in tennis over result outcomes, as well as the real life applications in terms of learning to appreciate the journey. Claire Cahill, who earned All-American honors at Washington & Lee and currently serves as a Business Analyst for Bazaarvoice, told an inspiring story of how she had to come back to her ATA roots to get her college tennis career moving in the right direction. Following Claire’s sophomore year at Washington & Lee in which she did not play in the starting line-up, Claire decided she needed to step up her commitment and return to her disciplined training habits by spending the entire summer doing morning and afternoon practices at ATA under the guidance of Coach Newman. The net result of Claire’s hard work and dedication was earning All-American honors at the end of her junior year after playing in the doubles and singles line-up the entire season. Claire attributed her remarkable turnaround to the hard work she put in at ATA the summer before her junior year.

Many of the alumni members said the thing they valued the most from their experience at ATA was the life-long friendships they formed there. ATA coach Brandon Davis, whose collegiate career at the University of Illinois was highlighted by reaching the NCAA Finals in 2007, shared that “the friends I made at ATA are still my best friends and we have been in each other’s weddings.” Brandon also urged the current players to take advantage of the opportunity to create their own special relationships during their time at ATA.

The most poignant example of a lasting relationship that began at ATA was that of alumni members Whitney Waters and Ryan Berber who recently announced their engagement.

Given the inspiring nature of the stories shared by the alumni members that reinforce the life lessons the ATA coaching staff is trying to instill in our students, there will be more of these panel discussions in the future.

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