Dear Wonderful Fans,
I hope you are all having a wonderfully sunny Monday! The last two weeks have been extremely busy for us with four tough ACC-regular season matches. But, we’re all really happy with our four wins thus far and hope to keep improving leading up to the tournament season.
This weekend was a remarkable time for our program, and more specifically, our coach Jamie Ashworth who made history and became the winningest women’s head coach in the ACC’s after our win against UVA. We are all extremely proud of Jamie for this accomplishment and feel honored to be part of such a program. So, it is only fitting that I provide you with the inside scoop behind our accomplished head coach.
From a tennis standpoint, the results speak for themselves. Its not often that you see a coach with the ability to improve a program the way Jamie has done. DWT has risen to a top-5 caliber team and was ranked as high as 1 in 2009. Amongst the amazing wins record and the quality of recruits to our program (just take a look at our current freshman class for a prime example), Jamie led the 2009 DWT team to win our program’s first NCAA Championship. As if this is not enough, Jamie has multiple ACC championships and ACC regular season championships under his belt. I could probably spend this whole blog and another one listing all of Jamie’s amazing accomplishments but I’m sure the above snapshot gives you a sneak peak. But what about our candy- eating and Mountain Dew -drinking off-court head coach?
Jamie’s love for candy and junk foods is something that we’re all grateful for because we all end up getting a share of the treats in most instances. On just about any trip, there are stashes of caramel apple lollipops (our favorite), jellybeans and various other goodies hidden around just waiting to be discovered. He does not know this yet but on our trip this weekend, we found his jellybeans in the front of the van and may or may not have stolen a few.
From a junk food’s perspective, our annual trips to California come to mind. Whether it is for the All-American tournament or a dual match, we find ourselves enjoying the LA celebrity scene once in a while. Every time we’re in that part of the country, our trip is not complete without a visit to one of Jamie’s favorite dining places— IN-N-OUT Burger. I’m not denying the fact that we all enjoy the occasional junk-food splurge but the excitement that this “sacred” place causes for Jamie (and I must mention Marc here as well), is probably one of the main reasons why this has become an enjoyable junk-food destination for our team. Oh, and of course Jamie has his very own IN-N-OUT Burger shirt (or a couple?) that he whips out once in a while to attest to his love for this chain.
Finally, I cannot forget about Jamie’s avid enthusiasm for busting out into song once in a while. Play a Jimmy Buffet song, and you’re in for a treat. We’ve definitely had our fair share of trips involving some amazing choruses… usually high-pitched and a “tiny” bit out of tune, but amazing nevertheless. And, of course, for all the Jimmy Buffet enthusiasts out there, dining at a Margaritaville is a must, making it another predetermined team destination whenever the opportunity presents itself. Jamie’s hope is to one day become Jimmy Buffet’s buddy… ask him about his plan of action towards achieving this goal and you may be surprised at how genius and well thought out it is!
All jokes aside, Jamie’s coaching and management of our team has made Duke one of the most desired places to attend. I can think of multiple tennis players whose aspiration is to play on this team. We’re all very fortunate to come to an institution of this caliber and be part of a program that Jamie has molded into one of the best in the country, and world for that matter.
GO JAMIE!
Next on our schedule is a trip down to Clemson on Friday and then to Georgia Tech on Sunday. These are two great opportunities and we’re all excited to show them what we’ve got.
GO DUKE!
Yours in tennis,
Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT
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