Skip to content

Sudbury tennis player bounces back a year later

Valley East native Jason Boudreau cites mental toughness as a key attribute to his tennis game.
170514_tennis
Collège Notre-Dame multi-sport athlete Sebastien Dugas-Ruest has won back-to-back city tennis championships. Supplied photo.
Valley East native Jason Boudreau cites mental toughness as a key attribute to his tennis game.

He understands full-well the need to persevere in the face of adversity, and given the events of the past twelve months, it's a skill-set that he has tapped into far more than he would have liked.

In August of last year, the graduate of Bishop Carter Catholic Secondary School had excitedly packed his bags and prepared for a departure to the west coast of the United States.

A tennis scholarship at Concordia University Irvine in California awaited him - or so he thought.

The night prior to his departure, he was informed by the university tennis coach that problems had arisen in the processing of his transcripts, and that his admission could not be processed in time for the fall semester.

Boudreau's ability to bounce back from a huge setback would be put to the test.

"For about a week or so, I was thinking that maybe I should just go to school here and not focus on tennis," said Boudreau earlier this week.

"But at the end of the day, I knew that there was going to be another opportunity."

And so there was. This past Monday, Boudreau signed his commitment letter to William Woods University in Fulton (Missouri), opting to join North Bay native Carla White as a Northern Ontario tandem, putting their tennis hopes in the hands of head coach Lauren Meier.

"I have faith in her that she will be able to turn me into a better player," said Boudreau about the University of Kentucky graduate, who competed in NCAA play for four years as a member of the Wildcats.

"There's no doubt that I will be developing quickly," added Boudreau. "My work ethic is good. We have a maximum two and a half hours a day on the courts, five days a week, and two and a half hours in the gym."
"Tennis is physically and mentally tough," said Boudreau.

"Those are two upsides to my game, that I can stay on the court for a while."

Working hand in hand with Sudbury Tennis Centre coach Paul Robert, Boudreau maintained contact with several schools following the disappointment of last July, settling on William Woods about a month ago.

While he would not wish the path he was forced to take on any student-athlete, Boudreau does see a silver lining in the adventure.

"It showed me how hard it is to get a scholarship," he said. "Just because you get a letter, there is still a lot to get done."

"It takes months and months and months to make sure everything is set to go. I have really matured."

Orientation begins between August 4 and August 16, with Boudreau expecting to arrive on campus within the next three weeks.

From there, hopefully, the bulk of his mental toughness will be utilized more so on the court, instead of finding ways to simply get to the court.


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.