Tennis players Nate Griffin and Grayson Broadus sat down with HCND to talk about what it’s like to be a part of the team.
Name: Grayson Broadus
Year: Freshman
Dorm: Stanford
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Major: Business
Began playing tennis: Age 5
Name: Nate Griffin
Year: Freshman
Dorm: Dillon
Hometown: Broadview Heights, OH
Major: Finance and ACMS
Began playing tennis: Age 7
What’s your favorite thing about ND?
N: I really like the community aspects of the school and how everyone is focused on one common goal.
G: My favorite thing is my teammates and how much support there is on campus.
Best ND memory?
G: The first snow for me. I’m from Texas, where it doesn’t snow, so it was really cool to have my first real snowball fight with my teammates.
N: The first football game because I had never experienced real tailgating before. It was really fun to walk around and meet a lot of new people.
G: The football culture here is really unique.
What’s it like to be a student athlete?
N: It’s a lot. It takes a lot of time, but it’s really rewarding. It takes up most of my afternoon, but at the end of the day it feels like I’ve accomplished something. Although I’ve only been here for a semester, I already feel so much more confiedent than I did before college.
G: It’s an amazing feeling. Tennis is an individual sport, but your team is still there with you through it all. They’re all good role models, all fun and interesting people. I can’t imagine college without being on the team.
How competitive would you say tennis is?
N: It’s pretty competitive. Off the court we get along well, but once on the court we leave all our other stuff aside. It’s such an individual sport even amongst guys on the team we get competitive. We want to pull the best out of everyone.
G: We’re mature about it, however there are only 6 players that get to play and 13 guys on the team. The goal is to play in the top 6 but not everyone gets too play. It’s extremely competitive because it’s what you trained for your entire life.
Is it difficult to balance practice and academics?
G: There are so many resources here between professors and tutors. At first it was incredibly difficult, but you get used to it. The more you do it the better you get at it.
N: ND is not looking to make you fail. They are really trying to help you succeed.
How do you celebrate after winning?
G: Tennis isn’t like most sports. It’s very classy. but I like to throw in the dab every once in a while you know. The coolest handshake I did was a double high-five and a dab simultaneously with my partner, Brendan Kempton.
Is there a strong bong amongst the mens’ team and the womens’ team?
N: We are definitely separate teams, but we get along very well. We all get together some weekends. Since we both play the same sport, we get each other.
G: They watch our matches and we’ll go watch theirs when we can. Whenever we see each other around campus, we say “hey.”
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
G: I don’t usually like to talk about it, but it always gets around. My second uncle is snoop dog but I have never met him or talked to him. One of my life goals would definitely be to meet him. We have the same last name, his real name is Calvin Broadus. Nate has a perfect ACT score.
Any last statements for your fans?
N: Our schedule is online, come out and support us.
G: Heckling is encouraged, so be as rowdy as you want.
Thanks for the interview Grayson and Nate!
XOXO, HCND
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Images: provided by interviewees