Carmen D'Alesio '22 Recruiting Profile

Growing up, I was always an active kid. I took part in a variety of sports from basketball to baseball, to soccer, but grew a passion for tennis that was not like any of the others. I first discovered tennis when I was around the age of 12. Reflecting back on this, I’ve realized that this is much later than a lot of kids usually start developing themselves as a player. However, knowing this has only motivated me to work even harder as I knew I could still compete with and challenge more developed opponents. Playing for my local club team that year was what truly inspired me to work to be a stronger player. From then on, I would always try to find anyone who would go hit the ball with me and play for as long as they were willing to. Constantly playing with other kids taught me that you can never count yourself out. Even if an opponent has played longer, everyone has a weakness. 

In seventh grade, I knew for sure that I wanted to play tennis at a collegiate level. Practicing tennis year round and playing club soccer began to clash with each other so I made the decision to focus on tennis and took it much more seriously. With highschool around the corner, I was determined to play on the varsity team as a freshman. I trained and practiced to try and perfect the weaknesses of my game, which at the time was my serve. I believe it is important to acknowledge your own weaknesses and act upon them. Yes, it is one thing for an instructor or a coach to address something, but I feel that when I truly understand how an aspect of my own game can be improved to make me a better player, I set a goal to go out and accomplish. 

When I finally made it to high school, I knew I was ready to show the coach as well as the rest of the team that I could be a valuable asset to help them win. With nine seniors on the team, I knew I would have to earn my spot. This did not bother me though as I was ready to show the effort and hard work I have been putting in during the off season. We started playing our challenge matches, and I knew I had something to prove. Everyone on the team got to play everyone else twice. I finished the challenge matches only losing two of them total, one against the senior who would go on to play first singles.

With seniority coming into play, my coach let me represent the school by playing second doubles. Although not the results I was expecting, I was raised with the morals that you need to be grateful for every opportunity you get. With that being said, I had to work harder than anticipated as I did not play doubles often. I was ready to learn and practice with my partner to develop different strategies and plays we could use throughout our matches. Together, we went undefeated throughout the entire season. We only had to play a third set at one match against a strong senior team from another school and we helped our team be co-conference champions. I also got to fill in a few singles matches as well when other players could not make it. Still, I personally finished the regular season undefeated only dropping one set during the doubles match.

Looking back at it, my freshman year experience was not how I anticipated it would go, but in the end it taught me how to work better with teammates and how to play to each other's strengths to ultimately be successful. Although never faced with defeat, others showed me how although everyone wants to win, you should always reflect on your losses and learn something. This is something I still find true today, not only in tennis, but throughout all of life’s obstacles.

I knew I wanted to play first singles during my sophomore year. I trained and worked endlessly all Summer to develop myself as a player both on the court and in the sense of playing with a strategy in mind. I wanted to become both a stronger physical competitor, but also a player who can think quickly during a rally. With that being said, I’ve grown into an aggressive baseline player who doesn’t rely on his forehand, but understands that it is one of his strongest strokes and uses it to try and dictate the point as much as possible. My serve also became much more powerful and accurate. I knew it was a tool I had and began to use it more to help me win points. With that being said, I’m currenting working on improving my serve and volley style game play as I’m trying to take skills I developed as a doubles player and incorporate them into singles matches. 

With all that being said, I was raised knowing that my education trumps everything else. I value my education greatly and am honored to say I’m at the top of my class with a 4.0 gpa. As I challenge myself in the classroom, I try to adventure into different subjects as I’m trying to find something I want to pursue in the future. Being on track to be valedictorian, I will always value my education over sports, but will never use that as an excuse to not perform my best in anything else I might be competing in. I know that playing a sport at the collegiate level as well as pursuing a degree can be very time consuming. Throughout high school, I’ve played three sports during three different seasons including tennis year round. I feel this has helped me become both more responsible and better at managing my time as I’ve had to balance these sports with other extracurricular activities.

In addition to my academic successes and achievements, I am proud to say that I’ve been elected as my class vice president for three years in a row. I also am a member of our Leadership and Interact Club where we consistently volunteer with other schools to better the lives of the less fortunate around us. As an active member of our school’s Italian Club, I am privileged to evolve my knowledge of the culture outside of the classroom. Finally, being involved in my local church enables me to complete many community services which I am blessed to be a part of as my neighbors have and will continue to support me through my education.

Through all of my experiences thus far in high school, I’ve not only learned how to better manage my time, but also have developed important leadership and communication skills that I will be able to use the rest of my life. My hard work and determination combined with these skills leads me to believe that I would be a great addition to any team. I would work hard to represent the school in a positive light. Although there are thousands of talented and well rounded athletes who are also highly competitive, I feel my work ethic, ability to work with a team, and my dedication to tennis sets me apart as an athlete. I would like to find a school that will not only help develop my tennis skills, but will also challenge me academically overall. I am more than ready to start looking at colleges to try and find the perfect fit for me and hope that my dreams of playing tennis at a collegiate level will come true. I’m grateful for even any kind of consideration to be a part of a college team.

Carmen D’Alesio