LAUREN CEBALLOS / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Josh   Page  is  a  USD  Tennis  Player alum and Captain who returned to his home court this weekend  as Santa Clara’s  Assistant Tennis Coach. Page smiled with confidence on his old stomping grounds, jealous of the new, fresh shades of blue on the courts and feeling a burst of nostalgia. 

   “I remember coming here on my recruiting trip and being at the bottom of the hill… thinking to myself, no way is that a place that I could maybe go to,” Page said. “Coming back, it’s just a reminder of a really special time… And when you come back to places like that… it’s a really cool feeling.”

   Looking back on his experience, there were a few things that truly stood out to Page during his two years as a Torero.

   “I think winning back to back WCCs was cool,” Page stated. “Especially my senior year, we had a really new group, and we had struggles during the season, just getting up to speed. But in the tournament time, we had a great win… I’ll remember forever.”

  Page made his way to the Santa Clara Broncos after his role with the Gooding Todero Academy, time as a graduate assistant for the University of Toledo’s men’s tennis and after working with Croatian tennis player Borna Coric. All of this experience has led him to enjoy the role that he has now. 

   “I think I knew in college that I wanted to get into coaching, that was always something that I wanted to do,” Page explained. “I had a bit of a period where I was traveling with a player and then wanted to get back to America. I’ve spent a bit of time working in Academy settings, but missed the competitiveness of college coaching.”

   Page was born and raised in England  where he ranked 124 in the International Tennis Federation junior ranking and played in the Junior Wimbledon championship twice. This was just the beginning for Page. Page came to USD  for  his  later  years  in college, after attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) —walking the new Paseo at USD during his senior year of college.

     At  ABAC, Page   earned  many titles   including the National Junior Collegiate singles champion, ITA Sophomore Player of the Year for Junior and Community Colleges and many more. At USD, Page had many more impressive accomplishments, including the titles WCC All-Tournament Team for Doubles with his teammate Jordan Angus, WCC All-Tournament  Team  for  singles and WCC All-Academic Team.

   The seasoned Torero Captain missed the environment so much that he decided to put himself back in it  —  just in a different way. With all these accomplishments, Page shared a bit about his experiences and how it has influenced his coaching style.

   “Give them opportunities to make mistakes as well, because if you don’t have that, I think it’s really hard to play tennis,” Page said. “I made a lot of mistakes in tennis so maybe that’s why it helps. But I often used to feel like if I had too much pressure on me, I wouldn’t be able to play well. And I think that’s the balance that you have to find with coaching and playing. I do think I’m probably quite a hard coach, but I hope I find a balance.” 

   Page brought skill to USD — fueled by his love of the game.

    “I’ve played tennis for as long as I can remember,” Page said. “My older brother was my coach and was a huge part of my tennis [career] ”

   Overall,  Page  enjoyed  his visit and  appreciates  getting to share his love for tennis with the Broncos. 

   “Being out there in matches and tournaments like this weekend, it’s just fun, and I love that in college,” Page said. “It’s a unique thing. It doesn’t feel like a job most of the time.”

   The Torero court has gotten to welcome home many alumni, one of them being former decorated Torero Tennis Captain Josh Page. Page  now cheers on the players that are in the shoes that he once wore.

Page coaches the Santa Clara Broncos on his former courts. Photo courtesy of  Santa Clara University Athletics