Colorado University Athletics
Kyra Wojcik (left) with Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (center, native of Spain) and head coach Nicole Kenneally (native of Australia)
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Americans Fit In Perfectly In An International Sport At CU
December 21, 2016 | Tennis
BOULDER – Tennis is a sport that lives on the international stage. It's a sport that attracts players from all over the world, players who fall in love with the game and travel great distances to play tennis at its highest levels.
Collegiate tennis in America is no different with schools recruiting and attracting top players from all over the world, creating teams across the country that are made up of mostly international talent.
The University of Colorado women's tennis team doesn't try to buck this trend, with seven women on the team only two women, juniors Kyra Wojcik and Jeannez Daniel, are born and raised in America.
Being the only two Americans on the team was made easier for both women since they come from very culturally diverse families. The exposure to so many different types of people and places has only helped both Wojcik and Daniel become successful players in a sport dominated by worldwide talent.
Wojcik came to CU from Goodyear, Ariz., in the fall of 2014 to start her freshman year. She came out of the gates firing, winning the first three of four singles matches she played in during that initial fall season, quickly fitting in with her new teammates.
"I chose CU because it was just about going somewhere different," said Wojcik. "It's so beautiful with the mountains, and honestly the cold doesn't bother me too much. When I [visited] here, I just knew that I wanted to come here."
For Wojcik getting involved with the game of tennis was only of a matter of time since both of her parents played, and even met at a tennis tournament.
"Almost everybody in my family, even my extended family, plays tennis," said Wojcik. "It's something I worked really hard at and it gave me the opportunity to play at a Division I school if I worked hard enough at it."
And work hard she has, over the past two and a half seasons of singles play she's recorded 25 wins. Along the wins in singles competition, Wojcik has been solid in doubles as well.
Teamed up with former Buff Julyette Steur in the fall season of her freshman year, Wojcik earned herself five consecutive doubles wins en route to winning the ITA Mountain Region Championship. The victory meant that Steur and Wojcik earned an automatic bid to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y., becoming the first pair to ever represent CU in program history.
Wojick's success on the court can be attributed to the values she learned from her diverse parents.
"My mom is Bolivian and my dad is of Polish decent," said Wojcik. "They instilled hard working values and they told me that I was going to have to work hard to get anything in life."
Wojcik was set up to be successful in such a global sport from the start, with support and experience from her parents she was ready to tackle the mental part of tennis.
"It's a sport that tests you a lot, and that's what's fun about it," Wojcik said. "It's something that's not all just physical you have to mentally tough as well."
Daniel's family doesn't have the tennis background that Wojcik's has, "nobody in my family plays tennis, except my little sister and I'm convinced that's only because I'm playing tennis," said Daniel.
"I got into tennis watching it on TV once, and the Williams sisters have become one of my biggest role models in my sport," said Daniel. "They were my inspiration to start playing tennis, just watching them and thinking that's something that I can do as well. It's something that if you work hard and long enough at you begin to fall in love with it."
Daniel comes from a family that's just as diverse as Wojcik's and much like her American teammate, Daniel has been set up to be successful in tennis due to the international exposure she's experienced throughout her life.
Before coming to CU, Daniel began her collegiate career at the University of Texas at El Paso. Recruited out of Port Charlotte, Fla., Daniel decided against playing professionally, instead choosing to go the college route.
"I was trying to decide if I wanted to play professional tennis or go to college," said Daniel. "So I got into the recruiting process late, and colleges I could have gone to were all out of scholarships by the time I was ready to go there."
Daniel decided to take her talents to the southwest and in her freshman year she led the Miners in overall wins notching 22, including taking seven of her final ten matches to end the season. But Daniel wanted a change of scenery after her first year in El Paso.
"Over time I felt like I didn't see eye-to-eye with my head coach at UTEP so I decided to make a change." Daniel began the process of looking for a new school to play at and Colorado became one of her top choices.
"As a transfer I didn't get to come here on a visit, so I heard about Boulder through word of mouth," said Daniel. "I don't do the cold, but it's actually really pretty here. And coming here to a high-level Pac-12 school with rigorous academics, I figured it was a good move."
Since becoming a Buff Daniel has notched 11 wins in singles and 12 wins in doubles while being a key part of CU's lineup. She's played primarily at the No. 2 spot in singles and in doubles she's spent time at the No.1 and No. 2 positions to help anchor the Buffs.
Her success, much like her Wojcik, can be traced back to her own families' diversity and that fact has allowed Daniel to blend right into the culturally diverse sport that tennis is.
"My mom's side is Jamaican and my dad's side is Haitian," said Daniel. "My family is huge and we are very close-knit. They always taught me to put in hard work and to carry oneself in a certain way. If you do things in life the right way, good things will happen to you. I've been blessed to have the family I've had and they've always been supportive."
The support Daniel has received from her family has helped her maintain mental toughness when on the court. "Those values have helped me with tennis because you're in control," said Daniel.
"If you lose it's your fault and if you win you get the glory for it. You can't say that I was on the bench and didn't even get to touch the ball, instead you do everything. The ball is in your court."
Both Wojcik and Daniel have become successful even though they are a part of a small fraternity of American women playing collegiate tennis. And getting along with international teammates has been easy for both women, since they both since they were both exposed to so many different cultures and parts of the world while growing up.
"We get along really well with our teammates," said Wojcik. "There isn't even an 'I'm American and you're not' aspect to the relationships. We're just friends with each other because our personalities match well."
Going forward in their careers, Wojcik and Daniel should have no problems being successful in such a global sport thanks in part to their own experiences they've had with their families.
"Growing up surrounded by so many different cultures has helped me get along with international players," said Daniel. "It's helped me become a more open-minded person, and being able to travel around the world allowed me to be more open-minded because not everyone does everything the same way."
And being the good teammates that they are, the two Americans on a team of global women, Wojcik and Daniel sometimes have to show their international companions how to be American.
"It's funny," said Wojcik. "Because they do have their little quirks that they do and sometimes we have to show them how we do it here."
Collegiate tennis in America is no different with schools recruiting and attracting top players from all over the world, creating teams across the country that are made up of mostly international talent.
The University of Colorado women's tennis team doesn't try to buck this trend, with seven women on the team only two women, juniors Kyra Wojcik and Jeannez Daniel, are born and raised in America.
Being the only two Americans on the team was made easier for both women since they come from very culturally diverse families. The exposure to so many different types of people and places has only helped both Wojcik and Daniel become successful players in a sport dominated by worldwide talent.
Wojcik came to CU from Goodyear, Ariz., in the fall of 2014 to start her freshman year. She came out of the gates firing, winning the first three of four singles matches she played in during that initial fall season, quickly fitting in with her new teammates.
"I chose CU because it was just about going somewhere different," said Wojcik. "It's so beautiful with the mountains, and honestly the cold doesn't bother me too much. When I [visited] here, I just knew that I wanted to come here."
For Wojcik getting involved with the game of tennis was only of a matter of time since both of her parents played, and even met at a tennis tournament.
"Almost everybody in my family, even my extended family, plays tennis," said Wojcik. "It's something I worked really hard at and it gave me the opportunity to play at a Division I school if I worked hard enough at it."
And work hard she has, over the past two and a half seasons of singles play she's recorded 25 wins. Along the wins in singles competition, Wojcik has been solid in doubles as well.
Teamed up with former Buff Julyette Steur in the fall season of her freshman year, Wojcik earned herself five consecutive doubles wins en route to winning the ITA Mountain Region Championship. The victory meant that Steur and Wojcik earned an automatic bid to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y., becoming the first pair to ever represent CU in program history.
Wojick's success on the court can be attributed to the values she learned from her diverse parents.
"My mom is Bolivian and my dad is of Polish decent," said Wojcik. "They instilled hard working values and they told me that I was going to have to work hard to get anything in life."
Wojcik was set up to be successful in such a global sport from the start, with support and experience from her parents she was ready to tackle the mental part of tennis.
"It's a sport that tests you a lot, and that's what's fun about it," Wojcik said. "It's something that's not all just physical you have to mentally tough as well."
Daniel's family doesn't have the tennis background that Wojcik's has, "nobody in my family plays tennis, except my little sister and I'm convinced that's only because I'm playing tennis," said Daniel.
"I got into tennis watching it on TV once, and the Williams sisters have become one of my biggest role models in my sport," said Daniel. "They were my inspiration to start playing tennis, just watching them and thinking that's something that I can do as well. It's something that if you work hard and long enough at you begin to fall in love with it."
Daniel comes from a family that's just as diverse as Wojcik's and much like her American teammate, Daniel has been set up to be successful in tennis due to the international exposure she's experienced throughout her life.
Before coming to CU, Daniel began her collegiate career at the University of Texas at El Paso. Recruited out of Port Charlotte, Fla., Daniel decided against playing professionally, instead choosing to go the college route.
"I was trying to decide if I wanted to play professional tennis or go to college," said Daniel. "So I got into the recruiting process late, and colleges I could have gone to were all out of scholarships by the time I was ready to go there."
Daniel decided to take her talents to the southwest and in her freshman year she led the Miners in overall wins notching 22, including taking seven of her final ten matches to end the season. But Daniel wanted a change of scenery after her first year in El Paso.
"Over time I felt like I didn't see eye-to-eye with my head coach at UTEP so I decided to make a change." Daniel began the process of looking for a new school to play at and Colorado became one of her top choices.
"As a transfer I didn't get to come here on a visit, so I heard about Boulder through word of mouth," said Daniel. "I don't do the cold, but it's actually really pretty here. And coming here to a high-level Pac-12 school with rigorous academics, I figured it was a good move."
Since becoming a Buff Daniel has notched 11 wins in singles and 12 wins in doubles while being a key part of CU's lineup. She's played primarily at the No. 2 spot in singles and in doubles she's spent time at the No.1 and No. 2 positions to help anchor the Buffs.
Her success, much like her Wojcik, can be traced back to her own families' diversity and that fact has allowed Daniel to blend right into the culturally diverse sport that tennis is.
"My mom's side is Jamaican and my dad's side is Haitian," said Daniel. "My family is huge and we are very close-knit. They always taught me to put in hard work and to carry oneself in a certain way. If you do things in life the right way, good things will happen to you. I've been blessed to have the family I've had and they've always been supportive."
The support Daniel has received from her family has helped her maintain mental toughness when on the court. "Those values have helped me with tennis because you're in control," said Daniel.
"If you lose it's your fault and if you win you get the glory for it. You can't say that I was on the bench and didn't even get to touch the ball, instead you do everything. The ball is in your court."
Both Wojcik and Daniel have become successful even though they are a part of a small fraternity of American women playing collegiate tennis. And getting along with international teammates has been easy for both women, since they both since they were both exposed to so many different cultures and parts of the world while growing up.
"We get along really well with our teammates," said Wojcik. "There isn't even an 'I'm American and you're not' aspect to the relationships. We're just friends with each other because our personalities match well."
Going forward in their careers, Wojcik and Daniel should have no problems being successful in such a global sport thanks in part to their own experiences they've had with their families.
"Growing up surrounded by so many different cultures has helped me get along with international players," said Daniel. "It's helped me become a more open-minded person, and being able to travel around the world allowed me to be more open-minded because not everyone does everything the same way."
And being the good teammates that they are, the two Americans on a team of global women, Wojcik and Daniel sometimes have to show their international companions how to be American.
"It's funny," said Wojcik. "Because they do have their little quirks that they do and sometimes we have to show them how we do it here."
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