Senior Kennedy Harris has played on the courts of the University of Portland campus since seventh grade.

Now, as her high school career comes to an end, she’s committed to play Division I for that very university. 

“I’ve wanted to play there since I was about 12,” she said. “It’s really a dream come true.”

Harris joins the ranks of seniors featured in The Falconer’s Next Level Seniors series, which highlights student athletes at La Salle who have committed to playing their sport at the collegiate level. 

“I picked up a racket for the first time — like rec tennis — when I was five,” Harris said. Though her parents introduced her to various sports including soccer and volleyball, “tennis was the one that stuck,” she said.

What initially drew Harris to tennis was the independence it offered compared to team sports.

“At first, I think it was the fact that I just had to rely on myself,” she said.

While she began by just playing once or twice per week recreationally at the Portland Tennis Center, it was around seven years ago that Harris began practicing more seriously. At 11 years old, she played in her first tournament, which marked a turning point in her relationship with the sport.

“I was like, ‘I can be good at this,’” she said.

By age 12, Harris attended weekend tournaments, along with training sessions at The Academy, an all-year round tennis program, where she now practices around four times a week in addition to La Salle’s tennis practices. This was also when she started to have her heart set on playing for University of Portland.

For Harris, when she started, “I just had natural talent,” she said. “That took me as far as about 11, and that’s when I started having to actually work for it. That’s when I realized, if I kept working, I could actually play college tennis.”

Harris’ tennis journey hasn’t been without obstacles. During her freshman year, she faced significant doubts about continuing with the sport. 

“I started lagging behind all the other girls my age,” she said. “I was like, ‘shoot, do I really want to keep doing this?’”

What could have been the end of her tennis career instead became a pivotal moment of growth. 

“Then I found the love of the sport again,” she said. “My fear then was just not being good enough, so I tried more to think about it in the moment. I really tried to have fun, and high school tennis really helped with that.”

The team environment at La Salle provided Harris with a new perspective on tennis that reinvigorated her passion for the game. 

“It wasn’t as lonely anymore,” she said. “That just really helped me see the game [in] a different way. It didn’t have to be scary and thinking only about the future, it could just be playing for fun and hanging out with friends. That more social aspect really helped me.”

Despite her preference for the individual nature of tennis, Harris has come to value the balance that team competition provides. 

“That’s why I like singles better,” she said. “I can compete by myself on a court but at the same time, I’m helping my team … I have fun playing doubles, but I think singles is where my strengths really are.”

Harris’ connection to University of Portland began early in her tennis development, as The Academy is located on the university’s campus, giving her an opportunity to develop a relationship with the coaching staff over the years. 

In the fall of her junior year, she earned a spot in the group that required the highest tennis ranking to join, taught by coach Aaron Gross, which she partly attributes to the close relationship she’s had the chance to build with her coaches.

“He kind of always saw me, and he knew that I was interested in playing, so that kind of just helped along the way,” she said of Gross, “He knew my name; he’s seen me get better.”

Though Harris acknowledges she needs to continue to improve to be ready for the highest level of college competition”\, she remains confident in her ability to develop her skills further.

“I have time to grow,” she said.

Originally, Harris was attracted to University of Portland’s nursing program, but she has since adjusted her academic plans to accommodate her athletic commitments.

“I didn’t think I could juggle nursing and being on the tennis team,” she said.

Instead, Harris plans to major in human biology and psychology, with a potential minor in exercise science, setting herself up for physical therapy school in the future. 

Harris maintains an intense training schedule. She attends practice with the La Salle girls tennis team at least twice a week, typically on Thursdays and Fridays. Her practices at The Academy take place on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, along with a private lesson from her coach at least once on the weekend. 

In total, she practices tennis six days a week, every week, with each session being two hours.

“I can play with people who are a lot better than me there,” she said about The Academy.

At one point, Harris trained seven days a week for about a month until her coach advised her to take a break. 

Currently, her private lessons focus on technique and endurance, with her sessions at The Academy being especially strenuous on her body, saying that they are particularly “high intensity.”

Even on her designated day off, which falls on either Saturday or Sunday, Harris fills her time with homework and chores, allowing herself just a small window of personal time. 

“I take an hour of what I feel like is just ‘me time’ to do whatever I want after I’ve gotten everything else done,” she said.

Despite the demands of her schedule, Harris embraces the routine. 

“It’s my choice to do it that way,” she said. “I think I just like a schedule. Sometimes, it’s hard for me when I have a day where I don’t have anything planned because then it’s either I feel like I’m not doing enough or I just get overwhelmed.”

Throughout her tennis journey, Harris has found inspiration in one of her first and most impactful coaches, Mathieu Garcia, whom she has known for about six years.

“He’s very much a tough love kind of guy,” she said. “He’s worked really hard, and he talked a lot about how if he had worked harder, he could have actually really gone far in the professional tennis world.”

Harris describes him as a “big brother who I know wants what’s best for me,” she said. “He pushes me, and I know it’s out of a place where I know he cares.”

His encouragement has fueled her determination to maximize her potential.

“I want to be able to push myself all the way and fulfill my potential,” she said. “He really wants that for me as well, so there’s just a mutual understanding that he has to push me as far as I can go.”