Sophomore Thasia Garcia is a lot different than most athletes. Garcia aspires to one day be a Diplomat and honorably represent her home country of Venezuela on a global scale. With a 9-3 record in the 2013 season and a career record of 18-9, Garcia has proven herself to be a force to be reckoned with on the tennis court, while she has also proven herself to be an outstanding individual off the court, with her commitment to representing the University of Tampa and giving back to the community.
Currently, she is on a four-game winning streak and continues to excel on the court. Then again, her overall success is not a surprise to anyone that has been following her career to this point. As a 16 and 18-year-old, Garcia captured Venezuelan national championship singles and doubles titles. According to UT Women’s Tennis Coach Al DuFaux, Garcia is an extremely hard worker.
“Thashia has a ton of internal motivation,” Coach DuFaux stated. “She is internally motivated to succeed and does extra work on her own by hitting tennis balls and knows what it takes to succeed.”
From a young age Garcia always knew she wanted to play sports. After successful years of playing basketball and volleyball, she ultimately decided that tennis was her favorite sport.
“I like making the choices myself,” Garcia stated as to why she ended up choosing an individual sport. “It is a beautiful thing that you can play an individual sport, but practice with a team in college.”
Aside from sports, the sophomore International Business and Finance major enjoys traveling around the world and exploring new cultures. Thus far, Garcia has visited 36 countries and visits, on average, seven countries per year. Thashia explained that she travels because it helps her adapt to certain situations, as opposed to being affected by them.
In only her second year here at UT, Garcia has made quite the impact on campus. When she is not spending time on the tennis court, studying, or going to class in the John Sykes College of Business, Thashia dedicates herself to giving back to the community. She has been a part of organizations such as UNICEF and is also a UT Ambassador. In the fall of 2012, Garcia was selected as UT’s representative for the Sunshine State Conference about women in sports.
Even though Garcia has won national championships in her home country, her proudest moment is every time she receives the opportunity to wear the University of Tampa tennis uniform. According to her, she loves the idea of representing her school with pride and honor. Garcia acknowledges that her tennis career may be over at graduation; however, she will not forget all that tennis has taught her.
“I will always include tennis throughout my life,” Garcia explained. “While I do not see myself as a coach, I would like to pass on what I have learned to others.”
J.P. Haney can be reached at johnpatrick.haney@spartans.ut.edu.