Atri Pandya’s (12) coaching style is simple: keep it fun. During a tennis lesson, Pandya weaved sarcasm with praise while hitting the ball back and forth with his 13-year-old student, who responded with laughter, at the Canyonside tennis courts, March 7.
Pandya didn’t imagine this sport would be his calling. When he first picked up a racket at a summer camp before his freshman year, Pandya thought tennis would be the kind of thing he tried once before moving on.
“I didn’t expect to even like it, let alone be involved with it more than the summer camp,” Pandya said. “I just realized that as I became more and more involved with it, I got closer to it.”
Pandya said that his inspiration to stick with the sport was due to his coach Renee Malcuit’s encouraging presence, and also the social connections he made with members of the team.
“[Coach Renee] told me when I started out that I had a knack for playing tennis,” Pandya said. “[The coaches and players] made me feel like it was all one family. It was a great environment to learn [in].”
In his freshman year, Pandya became a JV player. Then, in his sophomore year, he moved up to varsity and was offered an opportunity by Malcuit to volunteer as a coach in clinics for pre-high school students in the Wolverine Tennis Academy. Pandya said that at first, figuring out how to balance his fun-loving side with instructing players was a challenge.
“It was different figuring out how to communicate with [players] on their level so that they listen to me in a way that I can help them get better,” Pandya said. “It was hard to adjust to it from being one of the players who’ll have fun and sometimes mess around to being the one that’s trying to organize. It made me realize that I had to try different ways to figure out how to [make] my communication a lot more uplifting.”
Pandya said that he tried to mirror Malcuit’s positive attitude in his own lessons with the kids he was coaching.
“During water breaks, [players and I] just talk about life,” Pandya said. “I’ve tried to mirror that empathy from [Malcuit].”
While becoming more involved with the tennis community, Pandya realized that beginners were lacking resources to help them start playing tennis. He was unable to join varsity freshman year due to lacking match experience, so an idea took flight.
Junior year, Pandya decided to start a nonprofit called Serves and Support with his friend and teammate Roger Chen (12) in which “hitters” could be hired by players who want match experience but don’t have anyone to play with at their level.
“Private lessons and hitting sessions in general are really expensive,” Pandya said. “Private lessons are like $70-$80 an hour, hitting sessions are $40-$50 an hour. [I wanted to address] the affordability part of it. I realized that this [lack of accessibility to lessons] isn’t just something I faced, it was something that players that I play with face and players around the county faced. I realized that I could help.”
Pandya and Chen built a website where players can pay around $20 an hour (depending on the hitter’s skill level) to hire a hitter, who are mostly local high school students. A small portion of each payment is donated to a charity of the player’s choice.
“It’s really nice seeing that we’re able to make a difference in the community in some way and through doing something that we love,” Pandya said.
Now, after becoming immersed in the tennis world throughout his highschool career, Pandya is the varsity captain and coaches private lessons. He coaches players of all ages several times weekly, which he organizes on his own.
“I’m responsible for helping them improve and making them feel confident,” Pandya said. “I try to teach the students that it’s not really about winning or losing in a lesson, but it’s more to learn.”
Pandya said that working with a variety of ages has improved his ability to communicate and lead effectively.
“Dealing with 5-year-olds and then dealing with 40-year-olds [are] just completely different things,” Pandya said. “Realizing how to communicate with each of them and being flexible and adaptable are the main skills that I’ve gained through coaching. I’ve learned that no matter what, in order to coach someone I have to maintain an open mindset.”
One aspect of being open has been learning to talk to kids. Pandya said that figuring out how to encourage kids to channel their enthusiasm for the sport into a work ethic has been a challenge.
“This one kid’s favorite player was Djokovic, and he’d just be talking about it,” Pandya said. “I was like, ‘you want to be like Djokovic, right? So that means you have to get through this drill, then you have to play this game and then you’re gonna be like Djokovic.’”
Regardless of the challenges, Pandya said that coaching has been a rewarding experience.
“It’s fun and I see it less as a job and more like a hobby,” Pandya said. “[Tennis] is a passion that I have.”
Pandya said that his mindset has improved when he plays tennis himself as a result of the work he’s done with students, noting that he’s able to appreciate more of the fun side of the sport due to his coaching.
“I’ve learned through coaching that I just have to try my best without thinking too much about what I have to do,” Pandya said. “I’m just having fun and I’m helping people.”
Pandya said he hopes to expand Serves and Support to other locations if he ends up moving for college. He also plans to continue playing tennis and continue coaching far into the future.
“I really love connecting with the sport and helping other people get better with it,” Pandya said. “I remember a feeling that I had when I was a player under Coach Renee during my second match ever. I was playing a player that was a higher rank than me, and I was really nervous about it. Coach Renee was there for the match and I ended up doing really well and it made me really proud of myself. I want other students to have that feeling.”
