Louisville’s First Trip to Section Championship Caps Years of Development
By Ron Cioffi/USTA Southern
 Brady Klein  Isabelle Kuo and Maci Haywood , |
The University of Louisville is a basketball power in the ACC. But, in the USTA Southern Tennis on Campus Southern Championship, it’s been a no-show.
That is, until Club President Brady Klein slowly got the show on the road this year and brought the Cardinals to this year’s tournament for the first time.
“We went to another tournament in Chattanooga in my freshmen year,” Klein said, referring to an event four years ago. “Last year we went to Indianapolis for another tournament. I knew I wanted to come to this tournament to develop a good relationship and connect with more tournaments in the South.”
Klein jumped into the co-president role during his sophomore year. Now a fifth-year engineering student, he has worked to bump up club membership, its reach throughout campus and instituted more recruiting. The team has grown each year and Klein hopes it continues to expand.
Klein’s dedication and leadership skills impressed Taylor Urquhart, USTA Kentucky’s Manager of Operations and Program Development. She oversees TOC operations in the state.
“Brady showed more dedication, time and energy. It was really a matter of his leadership,” she said. “U of L has a great varsity {tennis program} that has been very supportive of allowing them to use the facilities, which has been very helpful. Not every school is like that. … We are really excited that U of L’s Tennis on Campus program has grown and is now competing at the TOC Southern Championships and hope they return for many years.”
“Honestly, for me,” Klein said, “tennis is my main hobby.” And that hobby has helped develop his executive skills.
“Yeah, coming into college, I wasn’t really seeking out leadership positions. But I found some opportunities. I was on the Freshman Council and a class representative promoting the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.
“My most important challenge is to grow the club,” Klein said. “We’ve put an advertisement in the freshmen guidebook. We want people come out once. The real challenge is to get people there. Once people are there, it is my job to keep them there.”