Division I equipment costs

rs1996 · 09-21-2008, 05:40 PM

I frequently attend the local D1 mens tennis matches. It is great tennis to watch and my sons enjoy coming with me.

As I watched these guys play today, I began to wonder what sort of equipment allowance they have, if any?

In other words, do they pay, in part or the whole, for their own racquets, strings, grips, etc? If not, are they given a certain number of sticks, strings, and grips?

Just curious how this works at the collegiate level.

10isDad · 09-21-2008, 06:14 PM

Don't know if this translates to D1, but my guess is it does. The following is from college tennis online dot com as part of a recruiting for Ouachita Baptist which is a D-II school in Arkansas:

"Our schedule consists of the best NCAA I and II schools in the nation. We travel extensively in the United States. At Ouachita you will have an opportunity to visit California, Floirda, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and once every four years we take a spring break tennis trip to Hawaii. Our tennis complex, Heflin Tennis Center, has received the prestigious United States Tennis Association Collegiate Tennis Facility of the Year award. This complex includes four indoor courts with a viewing area, eleven outdoor courts, and a full-service pro shop. Only the finest tennis facilities in the United States receive this award. Our normal practice is three hours with on court training at 2:30 and fitness training at 4:30. Ouachita takes great pride in our student/athletes and believes in providing the best for them. In addition to athletic scholarships, we provide all equipment such as rackets, strings, shoes, and uniforms. Our team wears NIKE clothing and has contracts with Wilson, Prince, and Head tennis rackets. When traveling we stay in nice hotels and eat at excellent restaurants. I am telling you this so you will know that we spare no expense to treat our athletes first-class."

Gmedlo · 09-21-2008, 06:14 PM

Intramural teams can buy as many tecnifibre racquets as they want for $90 a piece (at least at larger schools). I doubt there's much expense, if any, to players on the actual team.

10ispro · 09-21-2008, 08:51 PM

Majority of all companies offer some sort of Competitive Players Packages to College teams.
When I was in college from 96-00, every year I renewed my Package with Head, which consisted of 4 racquets, Super Combi Racquet Bag, Combia Travel bag, string, Grip, Stencil for $350
At the time I was using a PT280. I started college with 3 racquets and finished with 18. some wore out, a couple cracked from alot of use, some barely got any use.
teammates had similar deals. Deals werent exclusive to any schools, but you did have to be currently enrolled and playing for a school.

we also got 2 pair of Shoes free each year (wilson), Free string and Grip (forten and Wilson). Free clothing , warm ups (reebok)

Zielmann · 09-21-2008, 09:00 PM

Many (if not all) the D1 colleges are going to have some sort of contract with companies for the equipment for the players. That doesn't really mean that the player must use the equipment, though. I mean, if you have several custom Vantages that you've perfected for yourself, there's no way you should be forced to get brand name sticks just cause of the college.

As far as tennis bags and shoes (and other stuff that's not as important to your game as the frame) will be provided. Even at a D3 school, they will provide bags for the players, usually have a selection of shoes from one or two brands for the players to choose from, and they'll restring for free if you're on the team. When you start getting into stuff like overgrips, though, you're probably on your own with that, because it's not considered a necessity.

There are some racquet companies out there that give high-school and college team discounts. I contacted Head once (about a completely unrelated topic), and when I told them I was a college student, they sent me a form for a college tennis equipment package. It was like $150-$200 for two frames of your choice, a bag (6-racquet, I believe), and a case of balls or something. Not really a bad deal at all, but I couldn't afford to look into it at the time.

duketennisgal · 09-22-2008, 02:52 AM

My sister played division II, everything was provided through sponsorship except rackets, which the players were able to buy at a deep discount. Clothes, shoes, travel bags, racket bags, strings, grips, etc. were provided.

I played division I, we were provided outfits but that's it. We could buy our rackets at a discount but other than that we were on our own.

I think it just really depends on what kind of sponsorship your school has gone out there to get.

GraceCollegeTennis · 09-25-2008, 03:51 PM

I play NAIA tennis and we have a contract with Adidas even at this level. I'm provided with Shirts, Shoes, Shorts, Warm-ups, Sweatshirts, etc. I have to pay for my own racquets (at a discounted price) but everything else is all paid for.

slice bh compliment · 09-25-2008, 06:39 PM

look at Ouachita.

I played Division I tennis in the 80's. It was really fun, but fairly spartan.

We got free shoes as long as they were Wilson Pro Staffs.

Free clothing (basically unlimited team tees and practice shorts), a bagful of uniform shirts and short tennis shorts, a matching warm-up and one sweatshirt that I still have.
I remember free socks, but they obviously were not enough unles you did laundry every couple of days.

Coach paid for our sticks out of his budget, iirc. He had deals or accounts with Wilson, Prince and Zebra/Zebest, which was some dubious company that was pretty aggressive with colleges and Brad Gilbert at the time. There were some of us on free lists from junior days, but when those frames ran out, we were to lean on coach and his relationships for free sticks.

Strings and grips were always provided....basically unlimited all year long, even during finals and over the breaks and summer if anyone was around.

Hotels were always pretty spartan, and always three or four to a room.

Meals were always cheap. At tournaments or after a good win, coach would splurge for something decent, but it was usually Wendy's or something like that. I do remember a lot of ''to-go'' sandwiches from the School Cafeteria on road trips. And a lot of grocery store runs for gatorade, sliced wheat bread, cold cuts and PBJ. Mayo and mustard in packets in the cooler. Sometimes he'd give us a per diem (like $15 per day), so with the leftover cash, we'd spring for popcorn or something.
I actually remember a Greek diner once that was legendary. Whenever we get together or email, we all still talk about it like we're poor college kids.

Back then nobody wore hats, but we got some free hats at the University bookstore.

Fax machines were all the rage. I remember asking to borrow one on the road so I could hand a paper in on time. Yeah, sometimes papers were written by hand.

We had a trainer or two, but really just for injuries. No massages, PT and stretching like some schools provide nowadays.

Anyway, cool thread, thanks for the opportunity to remember some good times.

Daycrawler · 09-25-2008, 06:45 PM

For my friend at UCLA, they expect him to play 1-3 and they provided everything. Racquets, shoes, shirts, anything he wanted. So like five new racquets, a bag, clothes etc. but UCLA does some funky ****...

10isDad · 09-26-2008, 04:53 AM

^^^Mind if I ask which guy? Could be interesting this year. UCLA picked up ASU's #1 player, Matt Brooklyn. Srugo's still in the line-up. Seguso's eligible this year. They got a lefty freshman who was ranked 50 ITF. Then they have a kid who appears to have only played high school tennis - albeit for the prestigious Buckley School - and no USTA.

Gemini · 09-26-2008, 05:10 AM

D1 tennis in the 90's. All our equipment needs were taken care of by the Athletic Association. Free shoes, uniforms, strings, and racquets.

Our primary sponsors were Prince and Wilson at the time and each player was allowed six free frames a calendar year. Any additional frames were purchased at the players expense at pretty good discount. Shoes were free (tennis and running) up to five pair for tennis and two pair for running. Additional pairs could be bought at a discount. Strings were limited to Wilson and Prince synthetic guts in 16 and 17 gauges.

Daycrawler · 09-26-2008, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10isDad

^^^Mind if I ask which guy? Could be interesting this year. UCLA picked up ASU's #1 player, Matt Brooklyn. Srugo's still in the line-up. Seguso's eligible this year. They got a lefty freshman who was ranked 50 ITF. Then they have a kid who appears to have only played high school tennis - albeit for the prestigious Buckley School - and no USTA.

Matt. Thats who I was talking about. He was playing some amazing ball during the year. He slacked off a little this summer but is getting back into the mold. He is getting back to where he was and he should increase his skill alot so UCLA will be very interesting to watch this year.

09-21-2008, 09:00 PM	#5
Zielmann Semi-Pro Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 525	Many (if not all) the D1 colleges are going to have some sort of contract with companies for the equipment for the players. That doesn't really mean that the player must use the equipment, though. I mean, if you have several custom Vantages that you've perfected for yourself, there's no way you should be forced to get brand name sticks just cause of the college. As far as tennis bags and shoes (and other stuff that's not as important to your game as the frame) will be provided. Even at a D3 school, they will provide bags for the players, usually have a selection of shoes from one or two brands for the players to choose from, and they'll restring for free if you're on the team. When you start getting into stuff like overgrips, though, you're probably on your own with that, because it's not considered a necessity. There are some racquet companies out there that give high-school and college team discounts. I contacted Head once (about a completely unrelated topic), and when I told them I was a college student, they sent me a form for a college tennis equipment package. It was like $150-$200 for two frames of your choice, a bag (6-racquet, I believe), and a case of balls or something. Not really a bad deal at all, but I couldn't afford to look into it at the time. __________________ Wooohoooo!!!

09-25-2008, 06:39 PM	#8
slice bh compliment Legend Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,038	Very impressive write up there. College tennis is pretty plush these days, if you loo look at Ouachita. I played Division I tennis in the 80's. It was really fun, but fairly spartan. We got free shoes as long as they were Wilson Pro Staffs. Free clothing (basically unlimited team tees and practice shorts), a bagful of uniform shirts and short tennis shorts, a matching warm-up and one sweatshirt that I still have. I remember free socks, but they obviously were not enough unles you did laundry every couple of days. Coach paid for our sticks out of his budget, iirc. He had deals or accounts with Wilson, Prince and Zebra/Zebest, which was some dubious company that was pretty aggressive with colleges and Brad Gilbert at the time. There were some of us on free lists from junior days, but when those frames ran out, we were to lean on coach and his relationships for free sticks. Strings and grips were always provided....basically unlimited all year long, even during finals and over the breaks and summer if anyone was around. Hotels were always pretty spartan, and always three or four to a room. Meals were always cheap. At tournaments or after a good win, coach would splurge for something decent, but it was usually Wendy's or something like that. I do remember a lot of ''to-go'' sandwiches from the School Cafeteria on road trips. And a lot of grocery store runs for gatorade, sliced wheat bread, cold cuts and PBJ. Mayo and mustard in packets in the cooler. Sometimes he'd give us a per diem (like $15 per day), so with the leftover cash, we'd spring for popcorn or something. I actually remember a Greek diner once that was legendary. Whenever we get together or email, we all still talk about it like we're poor college kids. Back then nobody wore hats, but we got some free hats at the University bookstore. Fax machines were all the rage. I remember asking to borrow one on the road so I could hand a paper in on time. Yeah, sometimes papers were written by hand. We had a trainer or two, but really just for injuries. No massages, PT and stretching like some schools provide nowadays. Anyway, cool thread, thanks for the opportunity to remember some good times.

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