Petrovic, Radcliffe Tennis Club Charge the Net

With 41 varsity sports, more than any other college in the nation, and over 1,000 athletes, one would think that Harvard has more than its share of athletic opportunities.

But the number of junior varsity athletic teams barely reaches half that number, and even with such a high number of varsity sports, it's impossible to guarantee each student-athlete a spot. And what about those students who simply don't have enough time to devote to varsity athletics?

Though both the men's and women's varsity tennis teams won the Ivy League this year, there are no junior varsity squads. Instead, club tennis depends on both the Harvard Tennis Club, which is co-ed, and a fledgling Radcliffe Women's Tennis Club, a team that one woman sought to revolutionize this past year.

Captain Michelle Petrovic, a senior in Quincy House, turned around the Radcliffe Tennis Club, helping the organization to its first year of inter-collegiate competition, and increasing its roster to more than five times its original size.

A year and a half ago, the organization posted just 10 members on its roster. It was barely recognized as an athletic team by the Harvard Athletic Administration.

The team was not granted official court time for scheduled practices. In fact, players had to rise at the crack of dawn to take advantage of available court time at 7 a.m., a fact that could discourage many late-rising tennis aficionados.

The Harvard Tennis Club, however, did have official practice times, as they were able to reserve two hours on Sunday afternoons for weekly practices. As a coed organization, women were allowed to play, but never managed to compete competitively.

"While the Harvard Tennis Club did in name allow women to participate, in practice, the women never assumed laddered positions in this club because the men were physiologically stronger players," Petrovic said. "This fact deterred many women from playing club tennis at Harvard, and basically eliminated women's options for competing inter-collegiately outside of the varsity team."

With their options essentially narrowed down to either varsity-level tennis, or competing on a co-ed squad that barely allowed women to participate intercollegiately, many women athletes were frustrated, and understandably so.

This convinced Petrovic that something had to be done about the state of women's tennis at Harvard.

When Petrovic was elected captain of the club last January, she had two main priorities to focus on in the beginning: securing an official court time for weekly practices and increasing club membership.

"In terms of court time, after months of persistent effort, I was able to convince the athletic administration to grant us weekly Sunday afternoon practice time on courts reserved exclusively for club use," Petrovic said.

This practice time is not rigid, as players are given the flexibility to come and go as they please. Petrovic points out that while many athletes choose to practice as their schedule permits, many women faithfully attend practice every week and compete in all the club's matches.

Petrovic and sophomore Brook Wilkinson both cite the organization as an excellent way for student-athletes to compete, especially since the schedule is adaptable to basically anyone's time commitments.

"Practices aren't mandatory, so it easily fits in to your schedule," Wilkinson said. "People practice whenever they have the chance."

After securing the practice schedule, it was only a matter of time before Petrovic secured a number of players to attend those weekly practice slots.

With strategically placed posters about the Radcliffe Tennis Club peppering the Yard and the Houses, interest in the organization began to mount.

She also made table tents to put out in the dining halls to the same effect, all encouraging interested athletes to contact her via e-mail.

All of these tactics proved to be hugely successful as interested women athletes contacted Petrovic in droves about the club.

"The club membership has now grown to include over 60 dedicated members," Petrovic said. "Furthermore, the club also has a 20-person competitive ladder who compete intra- and intercollegiately."

Petrovic credits the exponential increase in membership in part to her tireless advertising and also to the heavy recruitment of incoming freshmen that played high school varsity tennis. Gordon Graham, the women's varsity coach, also referred many potential athletes to the Radcliffe Tennis Club as a possible alternative to varsity athletics.

"Coming to Harvard, I didn't have the time or the ability to devote to varsity-level athletics. I missed the competition and camaraderie of high school tennis," Wilkinson said. "I can go out and play tennis with a friend, but it's not the same as traveling with a team to play a rival school."

Wilkinson has earned herself a spot on the competitive ladder of intercollegiate competition. Competing in two matches this year, she has proven herself a formidable opponent.

Although she fell at No. 4 singles against MIT earlier this year, and No. 1 singles most recently against Winsor Academy, she was able to take the top spots in both her doubles matches.

Against Tufts, she and Erica Michelstein, who is also a Crimson editor, took the top position.

Wilkinson repeated this feat with Sarah Doernberg against Winsor.

The fact that the Radcliffe Tennis Club is a low-stress organization that sees commitment as a function of how much effort each participant wants to put in to the club is not the only tempting feature that attracted 50 new members.

It certainly didn't hurt that the club was offering inter-collegiate competition for the first time ever.

"While the club is open to women of all tennis abilities, many members are JV and varsity-level players, who, whether due to time constraints or other reasons, want to compete intercollegiately but not on the regimented schedule of a varsity team," Petrovic said. "As a result, the club just completed its inaugural year of intercollegiate competition with wins over the JV women's teams of MIT and Tufts."

Now that the team is an established organization at Harvard, junior varsity-level and club teams from other colleges and preparatory schools in the area expressed significant interest in competing against the organization in the future.

The Radcliffe Tennis Club is also included on the competitive rosters for the fall at Dartmouth, Boston College, Wellesley, Brown, Emmanuel, MIT and Tufts.

It is now an undeniable fact that this club is now a competitive force at the inter-collegiate level.

"I have received calls from coaches at other institutions who have heard about our club and want to include us on their competitive roster schedule for this coming year," Petrovic said. "Due to such contact, we have expanded our competitive matches to include the varsity teams of preparatory schools. Phillips Academy and Exeter have also expressed interest in playing our club this upcoming year."

Now the Radcliffe Tennis Club is permanently established as a serious and significant competitive tennis organization at Harvard. The Harvard Athletic Administration also recognizes the team now. In addition to this, the women's varsity tennis team supports the team as well.

"Varsity coaches refer women to our club now," Petrovic said. "And now we receive direct support from the varsity women's assistant coach, Jennifer Callen. She donated over 40 tennis outfits to our club exclusively for club use at inter-collegiate matches."

Petrovic herself has made a resounding impact on many people that she has come in contact with. Her efforts with the organization have led to commendations from the Harvard Varsity Tennis coaching staff, as well as from John Wentzell, the director of Harvard Club Sports.

After her stint as captain of the club, Petrovic will continue to organize tennis for student-athletes looking for an outlet to play. Students at John Hopkins School of Medicine will surely benefit next year, as Petrovic will be enrolling there this fall.

"While I am graduating and thus will no longer be involved in Harvard athletics and tennis, I plan to continue my organization tennis activities post-Harvard," Petrovic said. "I hope to establish a women's tennis club for medical students."