By William Simon, Staff Reporter
After two years of intense training in Florida, one year at Evert Tennis Academy and another year at International Management Group (IMG) Academy, senior and California Institute of Technology tennis commit Michael Gao has returned back to Conestoga.
At age six, Gao started practicing tennis in Indiana. At age 11, he moved to Pennsylvania and began practicing at High Performance Tennis Academy (HPTA) in Bala Cynwyd. After attending ‘Stoga for his freshman year, Gao decided to move to Florida to train in the summer before his sophomore year.
“I had the idea (to move) literally the summer before I went,” Gao said. “And I chose to go there because I wanted to pursue my goal of playing college tennis.”
From early morning wake-ups to late-night practices, Gao followed a schedule that balanced both his academic and athletic careers.
“I would wake up at 6:30, gym from 7:00 to 8:00, tennis from 8:00 to 10:00, school from 10:30 to 2:30 with lunch in between and then practice from 3:00 to 5:00,” Gao said.
Kellen Thomas, who has coached Gao since he first joined HPTA, was involved in Gao’s decision to train in Florida. Describing Gao’s departure as a bittersweet experience, he was happy to see Gao push himself as a player but also sad to see a player leave.
“He’s a fierce competitor, and you can’t be a fierce competitor without integrity or passion,” Thomas said. “I think he exemplifies all those things.”
Many of Gao’s favorite moments of training in Florida do not only come from the academies he attended but also from the memories he made during this time.
“My favorite times I would say would be traveling, especially internationally for tournaments,” Gao said.“Nicaragua and Barbados were two fun trips.”
Gao grew as a player, climbing into the top 2,000-ranked players internationally and into the top 175 of the Class of 2025 nationally. His tennis journey allowed him to learn valuable life lessons about resiliency and grit.
“Tennis is a lonely sport, so just dealing with adversity and basically (being) on my own and being by myself in Florida taught me how to be independent and deal with those challenges,” Gao said. “I think (tennis is) a great way to grow. Tennis is very similar to life in a lot of differenr ways and you can definitely improve by playing tennis, on the court and off the court.”
William Simon can be reached at [email protected].
