The Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) Tournament will be taking place April 13-15. Women’s tennis Defending State Champion Danielle Garrido from Mesa College sat down for an interview with The Mesa Press to discuss her tennis career and weigh in on the upcoming tournament.
Having played tennis for approximately 12 years starting at age 8, Garrido knows exactly what she has to do in order to succeed, not only in the PCAC tournament, but also with her tennis career.
“I’ve always played competitively, the main goal is to get a Division 1 scholarship and get a good education.” said Garrido. She’s weighing all her options from Division 1 Universities before making a decision and hopes to transfer by the Fall 2017 semester.
“Not only have the standards for tennis (college athletes) gone up, and my major, nursing, has also become more competitive so I have to find a spot in both here in San Diego because I definitely want to stay down here.”
Garrido is confident in her abilities at the Division 1 level. “I have worked hard enough and have already played against Division 1 athletes in the past and I feel I would be good enough to be on their team.”.
Garrido is trying to enjoy her early 20’s, while being a nursing major. She has been forced to learned how to successfully balance tennis, nursing studies and her personal life. She called herself “a planner.” Garrido says she has always had to block off specific times for her day-to-day todo list, from blocking out study time to grocery shopping time. When asked how she finds time for friends or fun Garrido said, “It sounds boring, (laughs Garrido) but with my spare time I like to rest as much as possible. I rarely have time to just relax so I’d rather spend my days off resting. Ya know sleeping in half the day?” Lucky for her, she has friends on the team, “It makes it easier to see my friends when they are out here practicing with me.” said Garrido.
With the PCAC Tournament right around the corner, Garrido has little time to spare and is focusing on her preparation for the upcoming tournament. “The conference is single elimination. All season we competed against the other schools as a team and now it is time to compete as individuals.” said Garrido.
Confidence is key, and Garrido has figured that out, she continues to work hard to reach her goal of attending a Division 1 school in the Fall.