Swaysland Earns ITA Award, Internship with Wilson
SKILLMAN, N.J. – The ITA announced that Oregon men’s tennis player Joey Swaysland along with Patrick Kuhle of Quincy University have been selected as the 2015 Wilson/ITA National Promoter of the Year Award Winners. Swaysland will receive a paid summer internship to work at Wilson’s global headquarters in Chicago, Ill., in its Grassroots Marketing department.
A senior who has exhausted his eligibility but will graduate in December, Swaysland is the second Duck in three years to earn the ITA award. In 2013 Michael Schaeffer received the award and internship after exhibiting the same qualities that Swaysland did in his time at Oregon.
The Wilson/ITA National Promoter of the Year Award is given to the player that promotes not only tennis in general, but collegiate tennis on their respective campuses.
“I’m really excited for this internship,” said Swaysland. “It’s a great opportunity to learn from the best in the world. To learn from an industry leader like Wilson, it will be a great experience for me.”
In addition to being co-captain and one of the emotional leaders on the team, Swaysland did all he could to help the Oregon tennis community become attractive to kids, fans and players alike. Helping with the team’s Kids and Fans Day along with aiding in local tennis club fundraisers, the Aussie did all he could to put himself and the program in a positive light within the community.
"We needed to promote tennis in the community,” Swaysland told the ITA, “We needed to get out there and make sure everyone knew about our program and was invested and interested in it."
The Wagga Wagga, Australia, native concentrated his efforts on the Eugene Swim and Tennis Club where he created a program for he and his teammates to partner with club members and teach advanced tennis. The program simultaneously improved the club members’ games while also attaching a face and a personality to the Oregon men’s tennis program.
In addition to his work at the Eugene Swim and Tennis Club, Swaysland helped promote the team’s schedule and results through Instagram, and he was also the team’s representative on the Student Athlete Activities Council, overseeing the student-athlete participation for the Marathon Kids program.
Now that he has a tremendous opportunity to learn from a world-renowned tennis company like Wilson, Swaysland plans to enter the internship with an open mind.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn about an industry that’s always been a part of my life,” said Swaysland. “I want to learn about the business side of tennis from the one of the world leaders, it’s something that always interested me.”
“I’ve never been to Chicago before, but I’m really looking forward to it – being in a major city in America, working for Wilson, it will be a lot of fun.”
