Here is a little something from Rachel on her NGTL experience:

The COVID pandemic really limited my opportunities to play and travel to tournaments in 2020.  I very much appreciated the venue NGTL provided to keep playing matches in a highly competitive team environment!  Being on a team doesn't happen often in tennis, but NGTL allowed that experience with its college team format.  In my last year under 18, it was a great experience supporting my teammates on Byte Security Network.  I also really enjoyed working with Coach JF & owner Gonzales Pages.  I am so grateful that they drafted me for their team & for their support of all of us players!  It was second to none!

Most of all, the NGTL experience gave me lots to discuss with potential college coaches.  During COVID, the recruiting process was highly compromised with coaches not able to travel and watch players play.  NGTL allowed me to discuss my matches with coaches and send them videos as well.  This way they could see my results and how I played in matches.

I am so excited that I have signed with the Ole Miss Rebels for next year.  Coming to that decision and filtering out all the options was not an easy process.  It is quite stressful finding the right tennis team and academic program, especially when you cannot go and visit the campus or the team.  Everything had to be done by video!  However having Mike Hall (co-founder of NGTL & my coach since age 9) speak to the coaches at Ole Miss on my behalf, convinced me of my decision to commit.  It gave me that added assurance that the coaches at Ole Miss were solid people with a great tennis program and that University of Mississippi is a top notch academic college.

I would like to thank Mike Hall - NGTL in helping me with my college decision, but I would also like to that him and the entire ACE family for supporting me and my tennis all these years.  I can't wait to be a REBEL and I am really looking forward to the NGTL playoffs when team competitions can resume!

The NGTL has been a great influence on myself and many others. It has given me the opportunity to be surrounded in a team atmosphere which is very important, especially in college tennis, and form bonds with my teammates. I am very thankful to the league founders, Mike Hall and Yves Boulais, for allowing me to compete at a very high level at a time when there aren’t any ITF tournaments to play. 

I decided to sign with Northern Illinois University because of all of the opportunities it has to offer. Both Coach Eric and Coach Natalie are very ambitious and hardworking, just like me, and after my conversation with the Huskies I knew this was the right team for me. I also really like NIU’s OMIS business program. I believe that becoming a Husky will allow me to develop to my full potential as a person both on and off the court, and will surround me with amazing people that will help me achieve my future goals. 

I would also like to thank my long-time coach, Tyler Prescott, who has never stopped pushing me to get better and has always believed in me. I also want to thank NYTA for their continuous support over the last ten years. Additionally, thank you to my fitness coach, Dennis Lindsay, for further developing my potential as an athlete, and Brenley Shapiro, my mental game coach, who changed my state of mind and approach to tennis. 

I am really looking forward to the next chapter of my life, and I can’t wait to play D1 tennis at NIU. Go Huskies!!!

 'The new NGTL is a fantastic opportunity for players of all ages and a great avenue to grow the game of tennis. As a college coach, the importance of understanding the healthy team dynamics is a big piece of recruiting; these league matches give junior tennis players the opportunity to learn about that in a way that individual tournaments can't. As a junior player, it is also a much more efficient way of spending your time and money; the schedule allows you to plan better than a normal weekend tournament filled with sitting and waiting and you know that the matches will be competitive because the roster is made using the Universal Tennis Rating system. Furthermore, I'm a big fan of competing across ages and genders to maximize the different styles of tennis that a developing player faces, that is a great way to learn more, faster.'