Kaitlyn Challis '22 Recruiting Profile

Hi!! My name is Kaitlyn Challis. I fell in love with tennis the first time I picked up a racquet at age 11, prior to playing tennis I did dance for 8 years. My love for tennis has never diminished and continues to grow every time I step on court. I absolutely love tennis for so many reasons, but my main reason is the many life lessons I have learned through playing; especially the mentally tough matches. I have been able to learn many life lessons like how to be mentally strong and block out distractions, good sportsmanship, how to independently problem solve, accept responsibility, patience, and teamwork.

Pre COVID, I had some opportunities to play ITF tournaments in different corners of the world. This gave me a fantastic opportunity to see different levels of play and meet new people from all over the world. I had been averaging 100 matches a year each year from the age of 13 until COVID. Throughout my tennis years I have never had any tennis related injuries that have prevented me from competing and I’ve been able to play at a consistent pace. 

Since COVID, I have not been able to train as much as I would like or play in as many tournaments as I had been playing in previous years. In order to get back to more court time for training and tournament play, in February 2021 I moved from my home in Canada to train at No Quit Academy in Las Vegas. Although a tough decision to move from home, it has been a phenomenal experience and have already seen improvement in my mental game, strategy, and technical aspects of my game. 

I believe that not only do I have the physical ability and skill to compete at the college level but I have the friendly personality, character, work ethic, required to be a great team member and achieve success on a college team.