BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Agyeponmaa McAllister, a graduate assistant tennis coach at Southern University, has been selected by the United States Tennis Association to participate in a coaching cohort aimed at supporting young women in tennis who aspire to coach.
McAllister, who goes by Agye, is one of 30 people chosen for the program.
“I was actually really shocked to be chosen as part of the first 30 to go through this, so yeah, it was really exciting,” she said.
From player to coach
McAllister said she has played tennis since the age of three.
“Tennis is everything to me; I’ve been playing since I was three,” she said. “And that’s really all I’ve known all my life. It was school, tennis, homework, go to sleep, school, tennis, so tennis means everything to me.”
Mounting injuries during her final playing year at Southern led her to coaching. While still a player, she began working with her teammates on the court.
“I’d play the doubles match, and then when singles time ran around, I would be on the court to be able to go around and coach my teammates,” she said.
Women underrepresented in tennis coaching
According to the International Tennis Federation, women make up just over 20% of coaches in the sport. McAllister said that statistic underscores the importance of the USTA program.
“There’s not a lot of women coaches out there, so representation really matters,” she said. “I think when we look at sports, it’s like, if you see her, you can be her. We look at, you know, Serena Williams if we’re talking about tennis, and growing up as a little girl seeing Serena Williams play tennis and get to the highest level, you really want to be that. In coaching, if you can see women in these high spaces coaching, then you really feel like you can achieve that.”
Program details
McAllister will take classes both online and in-person with coaches in the sport. The cohort concludes in Orlando, Florida, with in-person sessions designed to provide coaches with education, support, and a professional network.
“I feel like just learning from USTA coaching how to merge those things, it’ll be helpful for future players,” she said.
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