Lee Walker has served as the Head Women’s Tennis Coach at TCU since 2014 where his team reached a high of #14 in the country. Prior to this, he spent 7 years as the Head Coach at Memphis and 5 years as their assistant coach. Lee competed for Memphis where he was ranked as high as number 12 in the country in doubles and is in the Memphis Club Hall of Fame.

In this conversation, you are going to hear about:

• His struggles as a college athlete and where he turned in his lowest moment
• How as a D1 coach he was drowning in activity that lead to complete physical, mental, and spiritual exhaustion
• The fundamentals he prioritized to rebuild his life, family, and coaching
• And much, much more!!

This is Episode 8 of our 8 episode series sharing faith-filled stories of elite college tennis coaches.

Connect:

IG - @aiatennis

Email - chad.simpson@athletesinaction.org

Resources Lee highlighted:

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Track: "The Rebel Flagship"

Music provided by https://slip.stream

Mark is the Head Men’s Coach at Tulane where in 2008, he was tasked with rebuilding a program that was discontinued for four years as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Since then, Mark has orchestrated the program’s improbable return to national prominence as a top-25 team in the country. Before that, Mark spent 10 years as an Assistant and then Associate HC at LSU. Mark was a top 20 player at West Virginia and went on to reach 267 in the world in doubles.

Mark is known around the country for his joy and the way he treats people. But in this conversation, you are going to hear:

• How his faith has impacted his life and coaching
• The prayer he prayed before taking the Tulane job
• What it was like inside the hospital room the moments before and after his heart transplant in May of 2023
• And much, much more!!

This is Episode 7 of our 8 episode series sharing faith-filled stories of elite college tennis coaches.

Connect:

IG - @aiatennis

Email - chad.simpson@athletesinaction.org

More details on Mark's health battle with the ITA Podcast.

Mark's GoFundMe Page.

Track: "The Rebel Flagship"

Music provided by https://slip.stream

SUBSCRIBE NOW

EPISODE 6

Nathan is in his 1st season as the Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach at Princeton. Nathan competed on the pro tour from 2005-2010 reaching a career high of number 356. Before that, he was an NCAA All-American at Clemson. Nathan also has had coaching stops at Clemson and D2 Southern Wesleyan along with working at the Junior Tennis Champions Center where he worked with players like Mitchell Frank and Francis Tiafoe.

In this conversation with Chad, you will hear:

• What Nathan learned from his time playing for the legendary Chuck Kriese,
• How he wandered from his faith during college
• About a major adversity that he and his wife have journeyed through
• And much, much more!

This is Episode 6 of our 8 episode series sharing faith-filled stories of elite college tennis coaches.

Connect:

IG - @aiatennis

Email - chad.simpson@athletesinaction.org

Track: "The Rebel Flagship"

Music provided by https://slip.stream