With the warming weather, the tennis team can be spotted serving from Ramapo Valley Road during their daily practice. But a big difference this spring from last is a change in status from Division III to a club team. The change was announced last spring and, according to players and coaches, has come with pluses and minuses.
“I was surprised,” Coach Raza Baig told The Ramapo News of the change. “It doesn’t take that much to run a tennis program.”
When the tennis team first heard the announcement last March, there were mixed feelings among the players. Junior Nate Cooper and sophomore Anna Bysiek believe that some graduating seniors did not care as much as those who would be staying to play on the club team.
“I was definitely upset,” Cooper said. “I was originally thinking about possibly transferring.”
Among the deciding factors that ultimately led Cooper to stay on campus and with the club team is that the change seemed like a good opportunity to have fun and meet others.
With the move to club status, in addition to no longer competing in NCAA matches, other differences include changing the way the matches are structured; how much attendance at practice is required; and how the team is no longer separated by gender.
“Tennis is like a big part of my life,” Bysiek said. “The transition from DIII to club wasn’t really a big deal for me, because I still got to play, even though it … doesn’t count for UTR [Universal Tennis Rating]. That’s pretty much the only difference.”
Baig said he is hopeful the team will be able to regain its varsity status sometime in the future, but for now sees the change as an advantage. Players currently on the club’s roster had been previously recruited for the varsity team, putting Ramapo’s club tennis team above some other club teams they are competing against.
Over the past year, the tennis team has grown from its 19-person roster from last season to 22 this year. Freshman Christopher MontesDeOca said joining the team this season was a great way to meet new people on campus and make friends.
“It’s like a good way to meet people, it’s unique,” MontesDeOca said.
According to Baig, the team is excelling in the tournaments they’ve participated in this season. The team competes against other club teams in the area, they have had matches against the club tennis teams at Montclair State University, The College of New Jersey and Lehigh University to name a few.
“It is my first year playing, so hopefully … by my fourth year here, I’ll be on par with the best players,” MontesDeOca said.
Ramapo still provides the team with transportation to and from matches and the indoor courts the team practices on during the winter months.
Matches do not have a standard structure and are typically umpired by the hosting team. The team also has more relaxed rules and regulations compared to NCAA sports, specifically about meeting with trainers, their practice routine and required time in the campus gym.
“I liked playing DIII, definitely, for the last two years. I mean I definitely miss the competition now,” Cooper said.
Cooper added that playing a DIII sport is more competitive, where playing for a club team releases that pressure and allows for more fun on the court.
“The team’s counting on you,” Cooper said about playing DIII. Cooper added that it doesn’t feel the same with a club sport since there’s no scoring. “No one’s really, I feel like, counting … on each other,” Cooper said.
The initial press release that accompanied the Ramapo College Department of Athletics announcement last March cited this change to be an expansion of the team’s opportunities.
“This will set Ramapo College Athletics on an inspiring path toward building athletic programs on all levels that could continue to be among the most competitive in the State and the region,” the press release read.
Coach Baig discussed feeling like the decision came from the varsity team being a burden on the trainers and potentially a lack of funding for the sport.
“I think money is a factor, always,” Baig said. “We always needed trainers. So maybe that’s one of the things.”
Only varsity NCAA teams have access to trainers who attend matches and assist the players in the event of injury.
Members of the varsity team who have remained with the club team pointed to funding as a possible cause for the switch.
“I have zero clue … they said it was some funding thing. But clearly, if you look at the courts, there’s no sort of funding at all having to do with tennis anyway,” Bysiek said. “I feel like their funding isn’t as supportive as other sports.”
Director of Athletics, Intramurals and Recreation, Jan Koslowsky stated in an email to The Ramapo News that each fiscal year, Ramapo’s competitive club programs are given the same amount of funding from Ramapo Athletics.
“The tennis club currently has a head coach that is paid, which not all of our competitive clubs do at this time,” Koslowsky stated.
The tennis courts are cracked and have some divots, potential hazards for players.
Koslowsky said the tennis courts have already been acknowledged as an opportunity for improvement in Ramapo’s Comprehensive Facilities Plan; however, this aspect of the plan currently has no funding.
The plan, approved by the Board of Trustees in January 2024, focuses on the campus’ physical needs for the next 10 years and looks to enhance student experience, using existing infrastructure to do so. It states that the tennis courts are in poor condition because of water damage due to consistent flooding of the athletic fields.
The plan proposes that the tennis equipment has the potential to be updated and the courts could be resurfaced, which would involve adding a new layer of asphalt over the existing courts. The plan also suggests that some of the tennis courts could be overlaid with pickleball courts or converted into a space for futsal — a soccer-like sport played on a small hardcourt.
The team receives an operating budget from the College that helps fund their season. Any additional money comes from the team’s fundraising efforts.
Looking ahead, Baig said he hopes to start taking yearly spring break trips using the money the team works to fundraise.
The team recently received a $1,000 grant from the United States Tennis Association to help promote tennis at a campus level and support club teams. The team will continue to receive the grant money yearly.
Even with the team’s successful season ending and big plans on the horizon, there is still some uncertainty about the state of the team and what that might mean for the future of the sport at Ramapo.
“I feel like they don’t really focus on … us as much now, because we’re no longer a DIII sport,” Cooper said.
jhammer@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Jessica Hammer
