Tara Murray
Two years ago, playing tennis on a college scholarship in America was the last thing on the mind of Keilor Downs’ Ava O’Brien.
O’Brien had enjoyed the sport a child, before quitting when she fell out of love with tennis.
“I am a very competitive person and when I started playing competitively around the age of 10 I was no longer as good for my age, as good as I wanted to be,“ she said from America.
“I started losing most of my matches and, as a perfectionist who always wanted to win, I began to no longer like the sport for a while
“I actually stopped playing completely for years and came back to tennis when I was 19 because I remembered that I used to find it really fun.
“I went back to training at Melbourne Park and basically had to start back as a beginner. I just focused on loving and enjoying the game and always wanted to learn more. Every time I got better at it, I loved it even more.”
O’Brien was soon spending four hours on court a day and joined the Maribyrnong Park Tennis Club. The rest is history.
Working full time after finishing secondary college, O’Brien started hearing about a few people from Melbourne heading to America to go to college on scholarships to play sports.
It was something that stuck a cord with her.
“My dad and his family are all from New York. I’ve been many times and always loved it. In high school I always wanted to transfer to go to a school in the US because it always seemed cool.
“In 2020 I heard of a few people from around Melbourne who were playing sports in different American colleges.
“I realised I could play like the girls in division two colleges and that applying for a scholarship was an option for me. It just seemed like the perfect thing to do. I could study anything and also play tennis.“
She would accept a full scholarship offer from Dominican College.
O’Brien said the opportunity to be an athlete-student was pretty cool.
“This is really the first time since I was 10 that I am playing in competitions so it’s taking me some time to get used to it.
“The biggest difference is how big college sports are here, they take it very seriously and as an athlete you get a lot of support and recognition.
“I’ve had to learn how to manage my time better around sport for my studies but it’s going very well.“
With tennis still new at Dominican College, O’Brien and the rest of the tennis team has done plenty of travelling.
O’Brien said while she was enjoying her college experience, the idea of turning professional and travelling the circuit was in the back of her mind.
“I know that if I stay committed, fit and healthy then I can get there.
“I haven’t had the best first season as a college tennis player but I know that I’m getting better and can get to whatever level I want to. I would love to go professional so I’m just staying consistent with my training. I’m really excited for the future because I know I’ll only improve.”
