News & Features

My Players

|

My Lists

|

My School

|

My Notifications

Team Home

They fill a crucial role in every college program. They juggle multiple responsibilities and put in long hours behind the scenes. They arrive early to hit balls, they stay late to provide advice and they keep in contact with potential recruits.

They are assistant coaches.

Although they may not get as much attention as head coaches, they are highly valued by many.

In this edition of Meet The Assistant, we feature Virginia women’s associate head coach Gina Suarez-Malaguti.

Why did you get into coaching?

I knew a little bit of college tennis when I went to Carolina, but it was definitely a surprise to me how much of an impact and how much you can change your life. Throughout my time there, I was very fortunate. I had incredible people around me. My coaches were amazing people that loved me and cared about me. After my junior year, I had shoulder surgery and realized how much I love this environment. I love what this is about. I love how this whole family atmosphere. That's when I kind of decided, I think I want to be in this, and I'm not ready to let go of this, and I want to help people. But then I asked myself, ‘would you hire yourself today? That answer was no, because, while I was doing what was asked of me, I wasn’t doing more. I was a solid contributor always. But what was I doing to make people around me better? And so I really committed to just being the best version of myself on and off the court. I committed to graduating with no regrets and doing something special for my last year.

I worked with the coaches all summer, and I really changed who I was. I changed from being a person that was a little lazy but super talented, and then I just became an absolute machine. I never went back to being mediocre ever again. I finished my career at Carolina playing No. 1. We won our first Indoor National title. I was ACC Player of the Year. It changed my life so drastically as to who I was that I wanted to pay that forward. I couldn’t pay it back to them, but could pay it forward and help create that kind of life-changing impact college athletics had on me. I just want to really make an impact on people's lives and coaching helps me do that.

What do you enjoy most about coaching?

It's not about the wins. Titles are awesome of course, but being able to get a call from an alum saying, ‘Hey, I just want to let you know that you have instilled so much belief in me.’ That doesn't have a price. That is everything. The relationships you develop with your players, and being able to change their life. Because I think if you impact one life, you're going to impact way more, because then that person is going to have an effect on somebody else too. Just helping people be better–better characters, better humans–that's everything.That's why I do what I do.

What is the most challenging aspect?

I have an amazing boss. I really cannot complain. Working for Sara (O’Leary) has been a dream, and we're really a unique team. I think we really compliment each other. She's really given me a lot of authority because she's such an incredible leader. But I think that the most challenging thing about being an assistant coach is you are never really off the clock and you have to juggle multiple tasks. It’s hard to switch from being a director of ops to, all of a sudden, you're a mentor. You're planning dinner and then have to be on court to coach for two hours or have to be ready if a player calls to talk. I love doing all of it, but it can be hard to find time to get a break away from it.

How much of your job is recruiting?

A lot. I would say probably 70% of the job is recruiting. Recruiting is tough, because, at the end of the day, you're trying to really identify who's going to be the kid that you're going to be mentoring for four years. That's the one part of the job that never, ever, ever stops–ever. So I think that can be overwhelming at times, because you don't want to miss out on a kid. But at the same time, you’ve got to be strategic and careful too. Plus, recruiting has turned into a negotiation, which is even tougher. We don't have degrees on negotiation and all that stuff. We're just tennis coaches.

What are your strategies to identify recruits?

There's really no strategy. I'm kind of more old school in terms of I really want to get to know the player. I really want to get to know the athlete and just kind of understand them, learn where they're coming from. Because at the end of the day, our biggest thing is we want to recruit kids that really want to get better and are really hungry to get better. That's easier said than done. That growth mindset is so important. We're never, ever going to sacrifice character for talent. That’s a huge thing for us, because they're going to affect their teammates. We want to make sure that everybody that we bring in really has a positive impact on their peers, and are going to lift people and build them up instead of breaking them down. So character is huge, and that can be tough to identify. I think that's where you really have to ask the right questions and get to know them and get to know their parents and learn how they treat others.

Best advice you would give to recruits?

Take your time. Really get to know the staff, the team. Don't jump into things and don't get swayed just because of facilities or ranking or even money. It should be about where you really see yourself fitting in. Is there a coach that you really believe could have an impact on you, or a team that you connect with? Don’t get sucked in by things that are really not that important. I think that is so hard for kids these days, just through your cellular device, and everything is a little more pretty and shiny. I think just really focusing on the things that have an impact long term, instead of just immediate, is very, very important.”

What are your future aspirations?

I am still figuring that out. However, the one thing I can guarantee is, whatever I do next is going to be with the goal of impacting people. I want to make sure that I’m having a good impact on something, whether it's the community specific people, or the world. I love this quote of ‘making the world a better place through tennis.’ I think there is a lot of truth in that.

About Ethos School

We are excited to have Ethos School as the title sponsor of the Recruiting 101 series of articles at TennisRecruiting.net.

Ethos School - Transforming Education for Athletes

Ethos School is an online school committed to preparing next-level athletes with next-level learning opportunities through flexible, high-quality courses in a faith-based environment. Our online platform offers over 100+ a la carte courses for 4th-12th grade students, allowing families the freedom to pick and choose what course(s) they would like their child to take through either a fully homeschool or hybrid model. To date, Ethos boasts an AP pass rate of over 80%, with student-athletes going to universities such as the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Dartmouth, Auburn University, and more.

One of the unique aspects of Ethos School is our commitment to providing a holistic educational experience. Our students participate in a live 1-hour video session with their teacher and peers each week. These sessions offer enriching activities, opportunities to ask questions, discuss coursework, and present projects.

We are thrilled to extend an exclusive offer to TRN recruits like you. If you decide to enroll your child at Ethos School, we will waive the $95 enrollment fee. Additionally, we will provide a complimentary Academic Counseling session with one of Ethos' Academic Deans to plan out your child's educational journey to ensure they are on the right path for college and beyond.

To learn more about Ethos School, please visit EthosSchool.org - or connect with them on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, If you have any questions or would like to discuss how Ethos can meet your child's educational needs, please schedule a call here.

Leave a Comment

About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at rhiannon@tennisrecruiting.net.