The Alabama men’s tennis team is home to five players – half of the team’s roster – from all over the world. Jarryd Botha, Daniil Proskura, Vikram Reddy, Carlos Taborga and Michael Thompson are the Tide’s foreign players.
International recruiting is a large part of head coach Billy Pate’s job.
“Recruiting has changed over the last few years,” Pate said. “Because the game has become more competitive and everyone has more resources, international recruiting has become essential to building a team.”
Pate uses every available resource to help find recruits. Pate consults the ranking list for all the juniors in the world on a weekly basis. Events like the U.S. Open and the Orange Bowl also help land recruits for the Tide.
“Our mission is to get the best players we can with our scholarships,” Pate said. “That means we have to look all over the world for the best player we can get.”
Worldwide, tennis is the second-most popular sport, behind soccer. Therefore, many of Europe’s best athletes are playing tennis. Pate travels to Europe once a year to look for potential players. While there, he goes to events and makes home visits to potential recruits.
“My trips overseas are important,” Pate said. “The amount of competition in Europe today creates great tennis players.
“It is important to be aggressive with the best recruits. One selling point that helps land big recruits from foreign countries is that in the States they can go to school and play tennis.”
In Europe, playing sports and going to school is not as common as it is in the United States. Playing at a major university gives the players a chance to develop their game before jumping in to the pro circuit.
“Another selling point is our facilities,” Pate said. “We are lucky enough to have training facilities that are comparable to some of the countries’ Olympic facilities.”
The players who do come to the University have a variety of reasons for committing.
“I came to the University of Alabama because the University offers a good tennis team, good coaches and a good education,” said freshman Daniil Proskura, who is from Tallinn, Estonia.
For the international players on the team, adjusting to the United States is not a problem.
“Most of the players we get are used to traveling on international flights,” Pate said. “By the time they come over to the U.S., the adjustment is pretty smooth.”
Even though most foreign players are used to traveling, staying away from home for so long can be challenging.
“When I first came to America, it was a bit of a culture shock,” said sophomore Jarryd Botha, who is from Cape Town, South Africa, “but my teammates supported me and helped me adjust quickly.”
Both Botha and Proskura said they hoped Alabama was not the end of their tennis careers.
“I do hope to play professionally,” Proskura said, “but it is important to me that I focus on my school work and get a good job if I can’t play professionally.”
