By Karen Neill
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Senior Alyssa Tobita has been playing tennis since her parents got her her first racquet at two years old. After nearly 15 years of playing the sport, Tobita was signed by the University of Oregon to become a Duck with a full time scholarship.
“The most exciting thing (about playing tennis in Oregon) is the team atmosphere, especially at such a high level of play. It’s really exciting too because I’ll get to play a variety of different players, unlike Hawaii where we play the same people every tournament,” Tobita explained.
The two other schools to show the most interest in Tobita were the University of Colorado at Boulder and Santa Clara University, but the University of Oregon proved to be the one for her when she visited over the summer of 2013. Alyssa Tobita explained, “(The offer) actually came at the end of my visit, so I was unsure if they were going to even offer me (the scholarship). So when I heard, when they told me they were offering it to me, I was really excited because after I visited I knew I really wanted to go there and I enjoyed my time so much.” Head Coach Jason Agsalda added, “Tennis-wise, (Tobita) is a really smart player. She has all the skills sets to be a great college player, whether its singles or doubles, and she’ll definitely help the University of Oregon.”
To be where she’s at now, Tobita understands and appreciates everything her family has done. “They’ve given up so much time, drove me everywhere, spent money to go on trips and I know tennis is really expensive so to pay for all of these things, to know they believed in me all along and even though like as a child you never expect to grow up to be a college athlete, but it’s really thanks to them that I am able to stand here today and say that I am going to the University of Oregon to play tennis,” said Alyssa Tobita.
To her parents, the sacrifice is worth it, and they knew it would be since Alyssa Tobita’s childhood. She was able to sustain long rallies at the ripe age of 5 and at 10 years old she participated in the 2006 National Junior Team Tennis tournament in the 14 and under intermediate division. “Our first clue that Alyssa might actually be able to compete at the national level came when she was 11 years old. She placed second in the 11 and under age group at the Little Mo Regional Tournament in San Diego, which qualified her to compete at the National Little Mo Tournament in Austin, Texas, where she placed in the top eight,” David Tobita said, “We actually could not compete against her by the time she was 10.”
Pursuing anything for so long takes personal love and dedication. Tobita claims to love tennis for multiple reasons including the fact that it is both an individual and team game, there is no size preference and the mentality is tricky to master. “It’s so much of a mental game where you have to strategize by yourself a lot of times when you’re on the court and you can’t speak to many people. You have to keep your emotions under control at all times,” shared Alyssa Tobita.
After finishing her senior year at MHS, Tobita will leave for Oregon to begin school in the fall. Keeping in mind that the University of Oregon’s athletics department is a step up from Hawaii, she hopes to represent the island and Mililani well.
Read more about Tobita’s tennis career here and check out our past article:
Game point: Tobita represents Hawaii at national championship
