Edward Waters' inaugural women's tennis team pave way for diversity and dreams

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As the Edward Waters women's tennis team gears up for their inaugural season, they will become the only Division II Historically Black College and University in the Sunshine State to have a tennis program.

Head coach Marc Atkinson said that starting the program is not just about creating opportunities for education, but also about laying the groundwork for aspiring young Black athletes to dream and achieve.

"A lot of times, our inner-city youth don't see Black college tennis teams, and not a lot of times do they see HBCU tennis players come out. With the opportunity to be here and with my connections in the tennis world, I can bring more exposure to the inner-city youth that want to play tennis and have that aspiration to play tennis but don't see themselves on the tennis court," Atkinson said.

The Tigers' first-ever signee, Aalisha Alexis, comes from Trinidad & Tobago and did not know what being at an HBCU really entailed, but that quickly changed since she arrived in Jacksonville.

"There's a strong sense of community at HBCUs. I think we can just feel really comfortable being ourselves. Embracing our natural state. Helping each other with our hair, makeup, stuff like that. Just really like a family," Alexis said.

Alexis has only been at EWU for about two weeks and her journey is already making waves back home.

"It's just kind of crazy to me and surprising when I get those kinds of messages to realize people are actually paying attention to what I'm doing and getting inspired by me because I didn't think that it was that big of a deal what I'm doing but it seems to be impacting others, so that's good," Alexis said.

EWU has already gifted the team four brand new courts. So moving ahead with the unwavering support from the university, athletes are confident that this groundbreaking tennis program will thrive in the years to come.

The Tigers will kick off their inaugural season early next month as they head to Mobile, Alabama for the SIAC Round-up. The Tigers will play 8 matches in four days.