Avila Announces Addition of Tennis Programs in 2024-25
Avila Announces Addition of Tennis Programs in 2024-25
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Avila University Department of Athletics is excited to announce that men's and women's tennis will become the school's 15th and 16th active varsity athletics programs beginning in the 2024-25 school year.
"I am excited to see Men's and Women's Tennis offered at Avila starting in the 2024-25 school year," Avila University Director of Athletics Shawn Summe said. "This allows us to jump into conference competition starting immediately this year. This also gives high school tennis players from the Kansas City metro area an opportunity to stay close to home and compete at the collegiate level against good competition."
The addition of the women's and men's tennis teams to Avila Athletics' catalog of offerings will bring Avila's total number of varsity programs up to 16, matching the highest total number of sports offered in the school's recent history. With the additions, Avila University extends its recent commitment to improving existing teams while investing in new programs that have the ability to compete quickly: Avila has now introduced or reintroduced six teams since 2020, with men's and women's tennis joining men's and women's wrestling and men's and women's bowling as new offerings.
In addition to being the latest sport sponsored by Avila, tennis was also one of the first sports sponsored by Avila. Originally coached by Avila Athletics Hall of Famer Dr. Fred Geer in 1978, tennis now returns to the Avila campus for the first time since the early 1980s.
"We have had quite a few recruits reach out and ask about tennis and if we have looked at starting it back up, and at this time, it makes sense to bring it back to our campus," said Summe. "Now, we will work towards hiring a coach early this semester and start recruiting towards filling out rosters on both sides."
The Avila tennis teams will compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), as nearly all of the school's other varsity programs do. Avila will join 12 other KCAC full-member schools competing in the conference starting in 2024. College tennis is a full-year sport, with individual championships held in October and team conference championships in April.
Plans to develop or identify the practice and competitive homes for Avila tennis are already in the works in advance of the 2024-25 school year, and a national search for a head coach to oversee both programs is already underway.
For more details on how to apply for the position, find details on the Avila University website. For more information about this story or about any of Avila University's 14 other varsity intercollegiate athletics programs, contact Sports Information Director Tim Hackett.
