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Some college tennis coaches have already reached out to Miami Palmetto High School junior Madeleine Chellas about playing the sport in college.
“I’ve been looking from the academic standpoint,” she says, adding that it’s hard to find both.
She’s considering several options, including taking a gap year and working to get additional life experience. The one thing she does know is that she’s not going to play professional tennis.
Chellas has always been exposed to tennis. Her dad is a tennis director and coach. Her mom plays and so do her grandparents.
She’s had a racket in her hands since she was three. However, she only started getting serious since seventh grade and now practices two to four hours a day.
She’s been on the Palmetto team since freshman year. This year she’s seeded in the 2-3 position and she’s co-captain. Last year the team won the state championship. Despite going to states, she feels the stress was higher at the regional playoffs. Last year she played between positions 4-5-6.
Chellas also plays one to three tournaments a month on weekends.
“Weekends when there is not a tournament, there are practice matches,” she says.
She’s happy she lives in Florida because she says Florida is the best state for tennis. One reason is because the U.S.T.A. (United States Tennis Association) National Campus is in Orlando, which is only a four- or five-hour drive for her instead of having to fly.
She’s competed in tournaments in France and has coached in Australia. She has family in both countries. She played in France the last time she was there and coached during summer break while staying at her grandparent’s house.
Sports is the subject of her Advanced Placement Research paper. She’s studying the difference between homeschooled and traditionally schooled students who play a high school varsity sport.
“To compare their sociability, and mental health and overall resilience,” she says.
The research includes interviews and a survey. She reached out to a lot of people she knows in the tennis world.
“So far, I’ve gotten 150 responses,” she says. “I do know a lot of homeschoolers who play tennis at school. I went to some of the teams and asked captains to put out the survey. I put up a QR code. I do have a control group of students who do not play sports at all for my baseline.”
The paper is due in April, but she will do an oral presentation in March, so she plans to wrap up the research soon.
While college tennis coaches are interested in enticing her to their schools to play, she’s also very interested in a university with a great science program. She’s already taken a Florida college tour and likes Florida State University, the University of South Florida, and the University of Florida, although she hasn’t ruled out applying to an Ivy League school.
“I like all types of biology but specifically marine biology and microbiology,” she says. “My mom was a microbiologist. I’ve grown up with a scientific family. Last year I took AP Biology. This year I’m in marine science.”
She’s hoping to do an internship with her marine science teacher who has a business doing documentaries.
“They go and have their own diving equipment and underwater camera. He’s doing a big documentary, but he has done smaller ones,” she says, adding he wants to show there are some good things happening in the marine eco system, not just the bad narrative that people have been spreading.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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