May 16, 2011
In modern-day tennis, only the strong survive. Just ask Lauren
Leo ’07CPS.
“The sport has transformed completely, and the pace of today’s
game can really wear and tear on the body,” she noted. “There is so
much torque and topspin in every shot, so the physical demand weeds
out a lot of players very quickly. That’s why strength and
conditioning is so important today.”
A
former player on the St. John’s Women’s Tennis Team, Leo knows a
thing or two about success on the court. She helped guide the Red
Storm to a third-place finish in the BIG EAST Tournament and was a
three-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team Scholar Athlete.
Leo is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Physical
Education at Adelphi University and serves as Assistant Coach of
the Adelphi Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams. She hopes to make her
mark in the coaching world by specializing in body
conditioning.
“My ultimate aspiration is to find a division-one college
coaching job and get certified for strength training, because I’ve
developed a real passion for it,” she explained. “More so than ever
before, today’s top athletes are in phenomenal shape. Without a
doubt, strength training has become necessary in every sport.”
As Assistant Coach at Adelphi, Leo acts as the middle-man
between the players and the Head Coaches. She also handles a
variety of other necessary tasks, including booking hotels,
securing practice courts, scheduling workouts and restringing
rackets.
“A major part of my job is taking care of the nitty-gritty
stuff,” she said. “I also get to interact with all the players and
work with them regularly, which is always a lot of fun.”
Thanks to connections she made through St. John’s, Leo stood out
as a student by landing a number of great internships, including
ones with the United States Tennis Association and the New York Red
Bulls.
However, she’s most grateful to St. John’s because it allowed
her to get involved in so many service opportunities to help those
less fortunate.
“In our society, where news and information and careers move so
fast, it’s easy to get caught up in doing things only for
yourself,” she noted. “It’s important that you take a step back
every now and then and help those who aren’t privileged, and I’m
grateful that St. John’s gave me so many chances to do that.”
Some of the many ways Leo gave back to the community as a St.
John’s student was by participating in the Vincentian Initiative to
Advance Leadership (VITAL) Program, helping out at the St. Nick’s
Men’s Shelter and by babysitting the children of single mothers in
Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“Just knowing you’ve helped somebody out is a rewarding
feeling,” she said. “Those opportunities also changed me and opened
up my eyes. They proved to be humbling experiences.”
Leo’s passion for service shines through in her career
aspirations. She hopes to become a strength-and-conditioning tennis
coach and one day transition into being a Physical Education
teacher. Leo views both of these professions as just different ways
of helping others.
“You hear so many stories these days of athletes suffering
career-ending injuries, but a lot of these injuries could be
prevented with additional strength-and-conditioning training,” she
said. “Helping people become stronger and more resilient is
precisely what I want to do professionally. And as a teacher, with
the obesity epidemic so big in our country, I’d want to teach
children how to exercise and eat properly. So as both a coach and
eventually a teacher, I know that I’ll be helping people lead
healthier and better lives, and that’s a great feeling.”