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Tempe, AZ – Throughout the 2024-25 college tennis season, members of the ITA Student-Athlete Council will have the opportunity to be featured in monthly spotlights that will give the greater college tennis community an inside look at some of our Student-Athlete Council members and what they are accomplishing on and off the court.
In this spotlight, Gabe Puthoff of Auburn University will share a little bit about himself and some of his experiences serving on the ITA Student-Athlete Council.
Read more about Gabe in this spotlight below:
My name is Gabe Puthoff, I am a graduate student at Auburn University. Outside of playing wheelchair tennis, I am studying secondary education social sciences. I am hoping to pursue a career as an educator and coach.
Why was it important to you to apply to the ITA Student-Athlete Council, and what does it mean to you to represent college tennis athletes from across all levels of play, as well as specifically the level of play where you compete?
It was important for me to apply to the ITA Student – Athlete Council because wheelchair tennis and adaptive tennis in general is growing at a rapid pace, and it is vital to have representation in the meetings that are supporting collegiate tennis. It means a lot to represent college tennis athletes from across all levels of play. Simply because not many people are aware of wheelchair tennis and to grow that level of tennis is very important to me. To represent wheelchair tennis is very humbling as I believe there are a lot of other players that are equally or more successful, so I do not take it for granted.
Being a returning member of the ITA Student-Athlete Council, why was it important for you to apply again to serve on the Council and what lessons did you learn from your first year that you have been able to apply to your second year on the council?
It was important to reapply for council because I felt like I was not able to contribute a whole lot to the council because I was still being a two-sport athlete playing wheelchair basketball last year. Now that I have fully committed to tennis I felt like I was able to contribute more. I also enjoyed learning from everyone’s perspectives from different levels in the ITA.
Having been a part of wheelchair tennis being integrated into the ITA’s governance, what changes have you noticed in recent years that you believe will help in the growth of wheelchair tennis to more college campuses?
Wheelchair tennis has seen drastic changes during the integration into the ITA’s governance. When I first started playing wheelchair tennis, it was unorganized and we did not feel very seen. In 2024, I played in the first wheelchair tennis ITA National Championship alongside the men’s NCAA finals. That experience was first class, but the work doesn’t stop there. It would be awesome for the competitors in the 2045wheelchair tennis collegiate championship to enjoy the coconut water and access to the player lounge and see that as a norm during their playing career.
Why was it important for you to play college tennis, and what have you learned from playing college tennis that you think will benefit you throughout your life?
It was important for me to play college tennis because I wanted to grow the sport, so that the upcoming collegiate tennis players can play a game that is more accessible to them. I have learned a lot from playing college tennis that will benefit me throughout my life. Something’s that come to mind are perseverance, a “goldfish” mindset (shoutout Ted Lasso), and to have fun even when things are not going your way.
The ITA Student-Athlete Council is a committee of student-athletes who play college tennis assembled to provide insights regarding the sport with a special emphasis on the student-athlete experience. The goals of this committee are as follows: Present a student-athlete voice within the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) (1), Offer input regarding matters pertaining to the sport, particularly issues impacting the lives of student-athletes (2), Work to enhance the student-athlete experience specific to college tennis across all divisions (3), Invest in the leaders of tomorrow by creating leadership and professional development opportunities (4).
