Eli Dykema '18 Recruiting Profile

In my life I’ve learned to accept challenges and solve problems.  In tennis that has meant challenging myself to work hard and get better.  I played tennis when I was very young but stopped when my family moved.  I started back up when I played on my middle school team and found that to be competitive I had to learn, practice and work hard.  Since then, I have worked at the game and played USTA tournaments and really enjoy playing on my local high school team.

I have learned that the same thing I do for tennis applies in other places.  I have been a counselor at Hawken Day Camp for three summers now and really enjoy working with the kids and the responsibility and am focused on learning and working hard.  Until this fall, I went to Lawrence High School and played for their varsity soccer team.  Because they don’t have tennis, I played for the Shaker Heights High School varsity tennis team where I used to go to school through seventh grade.  It took some extra work to get to all the practices and matches, but it was great being on the team and competing with them. 

This fall, 2016, I transferred to Heritage Academy to focus on tennis at the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy on Hilton Head Island.  This will give me a chance to learn more and improve my game and I am excited at the opportunity. Playing tennis has helped me learn that I am a competitor, that I can thrive when I get the opportunity to show what I am made of, and that I have fun challenging myself and my teammates.