Coach Weber enters her 7th year as the women’s tennis coach. With the changes in having no contact with her players and recruits she’s found other ways to bond with them. She’s excited to get back to the normal schedule, but understands how important it is to be safe and not put anyone at risk during this time. On the plus side, Coach Weber has been able to get a little more time to herself and get projects done that she hasn’t had time for.

The Bears Fund: How long have you coached at MSU?
Coach Weber: I’m starting my 7th season at Missouri State this fall.

BF: How has COVID changed your last three months from a coaching standpoint?
CW: It’s been very challenging, especially recruiting. Right now tournaments are on hold and D1 is in a dead period so it makes it very hard to recruit. For the current team, we did a good job staying connected throughout the end of the school year. We had a lot of group texts and were still working on mental training. I think the time away gave our team a new perspective on how fortunate we are to be able to play college tennis and be a part of a team.

BF: Do you have any hobbies?
CW: I love getting out and biking or hiking on the local trails and kayaking down on Table Rock and Lake Springfield. I also love reading, especially fiction. It’s amazing the power that stories hold, and their ability to transform your mind to another place.

BF: What is your favorite thing about Springfield/the Ozarks?
CW: I love that it’s essentially a huge outdoor playground. From the lakes, to the trails it’s an outdoor lover’s dream place to live. I also love that Springfield has all the amenities of a big city but has a small town feel.

BF: What is one positive that you can take away from your time in quarantine?
CW: It’s made my life slow down so much. Life as a coach is constantly moving from one thing to the next and there is very little down time. Quarantine let me catch up on reading, catch up on projects. It also let me work on things with my team that when we are in the middle of season get put to the back burner. It also gave me more time to get to know recruits. Since I can’t watch them right now there are a lot more phone calls and video chats so I feel like I’m getting to know the recruits even better.

BF: If you weren’t a tennis coach, what other profession could you see yourself doing?
CW: I actually was a high school English teacher for 2 years right after I graduated college before I made the transition into college coaching. So I know if I wasn’t coaching I would love being back in the classroom teaching English.

BF: Since we can’t travel right now. . . .  Tell us about your most favorite vacation.
CW: Last summer I took a train from Los Angeles to Seattle. It was over 40 hours up the coast of California, through Oregon and finally ending up in Olympia, Washington. The scenery was stunning and the people watching and stories on the train made for an epic adventure. I then camped in the Olympic National Forest and finished the trip spending a few days in Seattle. The Pacific Northwest is so beautiful, and it made for an unforgettable trip.

BF: What is your “go to” dish to cook if you have company coming over?
CW: I absolutely love being able to BBQ in the summer. My favorite thing is probably brats especially the apple maple brats.

BF: What is the coolest experience you have had from tennis?
CW: As a coach, hands down winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in 2018 and advancing to the NCAA tournament. It was such an indescribable experience and just so special to be able to win the tournament in front of our home crowd.  One of the other amazing things that I have been able to be a part of since being in Springfield, is being the substitute player for the WTT Lasers. Getting to be in uniform, be at the practices, matches, and meetings with the professional players has not only been an amazing experience in general, but has also given me great insight and helped take what I learn from the professional players back to my own team here at MSU.

BF: What are your goals for your team for the upcoming year?
CW: For one I just can’t wait to get everyone back on campus and get started again. These past few months have given our entire team a lot of perspective on how lucky we are to play this game. Once we get going, as always our goal is to chase that Conference Tournament Championship and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

 

Look for more of our “10 Questions” series to come from The Bears Fund.

The Bears Fund is the annual fundraising program for men’s and women’s intercollegiate athletics at Missouri State. Your contributions to The Bears Fund help pay for recruitment efforts, tuition, room and board, fees, books, scholarships and other athletics or educational programs. The Bears Fund contributions benefit all NCAA sports programs at Missouri State and enhance the collegiate experience of our student-athletes.