Longwood’s men’s tennis team will be losing senior Captain, and team leader, Edward Becker; as he prepares to graduate after the Fall 2014 semester.
Becker must wait to graduate till after the Fall 2014 semester, due to the differences between the U.S. and Australia’s (where Becker is from) school years. Although, Becker will be here for another semester, his playing career at Longwood is over.
“Post-graduation, I’m still looking for what I’m going to do. I’m not really sure where I’m going to go,” said Becker. “I’m definitely interested in doing some coaching for a little bit, and possibly Grad school as well.”
Becker’s greatest moment as a Lancer came during his freshman year against East Carolina University, a historically strong tennis team.
“The weekend before, I was the last player to go on with the matches tied at three all against JMU and George Washington; I lost both matches. That was really devastating for me, then I was put into the same situation against East Carolina,” said Becker. “I managed to win it 7-6 in the third set, after being down two match points. That was a really nice reward for my hard work. It was probably one of the best wins in Longwood’s tennis history, and it was nice to be a part of that.”
Becker is planning to try and get his visa renewed to stay in the states for a few more years because there are places throughout America that he’d love to visit and see.
In the end though, Becker eventually sees himself moving back to Australia, and he’s just not exactly sure when that will be.
Once Becker’s time at Longwood is over, he knows he’s not going to stop playing, but he doesn’t know about actually playing professionally.
“I definitely know I’m not going to just drop my racket and never pick it up again. I’m always going to be playing. Whether that is professionally, I highly doubt it, but I’ll definitely continue to play tournaments just for the fun of competing. If it goes well, we’ll see, but there’s nothing on the board,” said Becker.
The future of the team still looks bright for next seasons’ team. According to Becker, the team will be turning to juniors Steed Johnson and Daniel Elston to be the leaders of the team.
“Dan sets a really good example with his off-court work ethic, especially in the gym, and that’s really paid off for him this semester,” said Becker. “Steed, I just see so much that he does for the team and how much he cares; I live with him, so I get to see that aspect of him. I know how passionate he feels about the team, and I know he’s going to do a great job next year as well.”
When Becker leaves, after the Fall 2014 semester, the part he will miss most from his time here at Longwood will be his team and the team atmosphere that came with it.
“We’re like a big family, we have our ups and downs, we have our bickering fights and stuff, but it’s all in good nature, and it’s really great to have that support system around here,” said Becker. “I’m definitely going to miss the guys and miss watching them do great things next year on the court.”
Becker will be graduating Longwood with an Exercise Science major and a geography minor.
