Jennifer Anderson, graduate research assistant in bioengineering, was honored last month as United States Tennis Association (USTA) Southern’s Tennis on Campus Leader of the Year award recipient. This award is given annually to a student who has demonstrated leadership by contributing heavily to his or her campus tennis program. USTA Southern is the largest tennis association in the country that awards individuals for success at their

annual meetings.

Anderson has been the Clemson Club Tennis Team president since 2014, and her teammate Reed Rabideau perfectly summed up three reasons why she deserved this honor: the increase in club participation, competitiveness and structure. “Jennifer has been able to transform the club into a dual competitive and recreational team through an increase in participation, better showing at more events and better practices,” he said in his recommendation letter for Jennifer to USTA.

Her commitment to the club and her constant positive attitude have inspired other members of the club to fully commit themselves to the team. Since she began, team membership has grown, nearly doubling from twenty people per practice to upwards of forty people. In addition to increasing the number of members she has helped expand the team’s competitive participation in tournaments. When she joined, the club entered three tournaments each year. Since last year the club has participated in upwards of five tournaments per semester. “This hike in tournaments was due mostly to Jennifer’s drive to compete and also her incredible managerial skills,” Radideau said.

She has an intense passion for the sport and is driven to improve not only herself but her teammates as well. Over the years she has exhibited great management skills. Rabideau specifically references how practices have changed. They have become more meaningful as people have had better opportunities to develop their skills by involving more individualized training. 

The atmosphere has made it possible to get more advice from others. Rabideau said, “Although we had the talent to do well at the tournaments we traveled to, we didn’t begin to realize that potential until the practices, led by Jennifer, were improved upon to include more drills and match play.”

There is no doubt that the program has been enhanced by Anderson’s commitment to the club. As Rabideau put it, “The Clemson Club Tennis team owes much of its success in recent years to the monumental effort by Jennifer Anderson… [She] has been an invaluable resource for Clemson Club Tennis.”