Oldest College Tennis Player

[tennisjunky]

Who are the OLDEST collegiate tennis players current or in the last year playing on a team today!
Wondering what this the max ages for men and women.
Lets keep this to the last few years as we could easily go back 20 years.

Players know it takes time (year and years hitting thousands of balls) to develop good mechanics and mental capacity in tennis.
For me...... there is a world of different between a 17 year old just breaking in trying to be recruited to a collegiate team over a FULL GROWN MAN that's life experiences might almost exceed the youths key development years!!!

Can 't help but think of this as I noticed on another thread a player on GGC (Georgia Grizzlies) men's team is 26 year old and is only a junior! Could this be the norm... I hope not.

And the bigger picture, why would a college coach recruit a 17 year old (barely out of childhood) over an international 26 year old recruit that has served in the military and whose been a FULL GROWN MAN almost longer than the younger player has been training in his key development years.

Or maybe its just me.......

 

[Clemson_tennis]

This certainly did not need its own thread.

 

[OC-80]

This certainly did not need its own thread.

Is Clemson_tennis the College Tennis Talk forum Sheriff ?

 

[Nostradamus]

can you still enroll in college at 40 years of age and still play in D1 team ?

 

[Doubles]

Who are the OLDEST collegiate tennis players current or in the last year playing on a team today!
Wondering what this the max ages for men and women.
Lets keep this to the last few years as we could easily go back 20 years.

Players know it takes time (year and years hitting thousands of balls) to develop good mechanics and mental capacity in tennis.
For me...... there is a world of different between a 17 year old just breaking in trying to be recruited to a collegiate team over a FULL GROWN MAN that's life experiences might almost exceed the youths key development years!!!

Can 't help but think of this as I noticed on another thread a player on GGC (Georgia Grizzlies) men's team is 26 year old and is only a junior! Could this be the norm... I hope not.

And the bigger picture, why would a college coach recruit a 17 year old (barely out of childhood) over an international 26 year old recruit that has served in the military and whose been a FULL GROWN MAN almost longer than the younger player has been training in his key development years.

Or maybe its just me.......

That's because GCC is an NAIA school which has an entirely different set of rules than the NCAA. To my knowledge the NCAA has a set timeline in which athletes can play varsity sports, meaning that if a player were to enroll later than the usual age (18), then they could potentially have their eligibility cut down by a year or two (like Hugo Di Feo for Ohio State and Alexander Ritschard at UVA) or they could not be allowed to play at all.

 

[Startzel]

can you still enroll in college at 40 years of age and still play in D1 team ?

Yes. As long as you hadn't attended a college yet nor been a professional tennis player.

That's why you see guys playing college sports after being in the military. Your eligibility only starts once you enroll.

 

[heninfan99]

There should be no ageism in this.

 

[Ihatetennis]

Yes. As long as you hadn't attended a college yet nor been a professional tennis player.

That's why you see guys playing college sports after being in the military. Your eligibility only starts once you enroll.

Military guys get eligibility waivers to be able to compete

You have 9 years from the start of freshman year in high school to compete in 4 NCAA seasons.

However in d3 you remain eligible no matter your age if u haven't competed

 

[PJ Lynn]

Yes. As long as you hadn't attended a college yet nor been a professional tennis player.

This is 100% false, my friend. As mentioned above, once you hit the time that you are SUPPOSED TO graduate from high school (meaning four years from when your peers should have started the 9th grade), you have 5 years to play 4 years of tennis. Ihatetennis said the same thing with different words above, 9 years from the start of your freshman year in high school.

Anyone who falls outside of this framework and is still getting their full eligibility received a waiver of some sort (military obligation, religious mission, extraordinary circumstances, etc). The caveat is that this is for D-I and since all of the other loopholes have been closed in the last few years. However, be on the lookout, there is a good chance the "6 months from graduation you have to stop playing organized competition or you lose eligibility" rule is about to be re-extended to a 12 month grace period.

 

[atatu]

If you count junior colleges then you'll find people in their 40's or 50's who have played college tennis.