Sofia Cicarone '27 Recruiting Profile

Hi, thank you so much for checking out my profile! My name is Sofia Cicarone, and I’ve played tennis since I was about four years old. I grew to love tennis, and I pretty much made it my whole life. I thank my parents for putting me in tennis in the first place, and I appreciate all the money and time that they’ve put into my tournaments and practices. They gave me an advantage by putting me in a sport so young, and thankfully I was naturally good at it. I’ve progressed so much over the years, and of course I will continue to progress and practice. My ultimate goal since I was much younger, was to play tennis competitively in college.

I’ll start out by saying that right now I am in my first year of high school, and I was very nervous to join the team during the summer, because I’ve never had a team to play for and it was very different from what I’m used to. I found that the experience of having a team to play for, and having my back, was so much better than playing for myself. We cheered each other on and comforted each other when we had tough matches, or losses. The coaches are also very welcoming and dedicated to the team, but their positivity is what really brings the team together. I liked always being able to hit and practice with the girls on my team. I appreciate their same love for the sport that I have. From the girls that played for fun, and the ones that also played competitively, we all had so much support and respect for each other. I loved not feeling alone on the court, since our wins against other teams were a group effort. I am so excited for the next three years of high school, since we are all going to progress and welcome new players on to our team. We had a great season, as we were pronounced first team all-conference, and I placed second in the county. I played first singles for the team, and I was very proud of that, because to be new to this school and this team, and then being looked at as the best player on varsity, felt really great. Overall, I really enjoyed being in a group, and I made many friends by being on the team.

For a few years, I’ve been going to camps in Florida to get the best coaching as I possibly can. I’ve gone to camps such as IMG academy, University of Central Florida, and Saddlebrook tennis club, for a few weeks in the summer each year. I’ve gotten used to playing in the heat all day and it doesn’t bother me as much as other people say that it does for them. I’ve been inspired by the skill of the kids around me, and great coaching that I’ve encountered at these camps. These kids understand how tennis can make you a well-rounded person with the strategy that you have to use, and the mental portion of the game. Not to say that there isn’t a lot of talent in the girls that I compete with close to home, but I’ve just always found that there was much better competition in Florida than in New Jersey.

To conclude, tennis has taught me so many valuable life lessons and playing in college as part of a team is a huge goal for me. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I hope this gave you a little bit of an idea of who I am.