Sophomore YLan Tran, who came to La Salle from St. Rose Middle School, started tennis toward the end of her seventh grade year. 

Initially joining the team because of her sister — Rita Tran, who graduated as part of the Class of 2025 — Tran decided to continue playing tennis at La Salle because of her desire to find community and belonging. 

“Since my sister played it, I thought it would be really fun to be on the team with her,” she said. “[And] since it was freshman year, I wanted to make more friends and find another community to be part of.”

Since joining tennis, Tran said she has made many friends and is able to see them quite often at practice and during matches. She considers going to these matches along with her teammates and chatting with them on the bus her favorite part of the sport.

One aspect that Tran said helps her keep playing is her team’s supportive culture and the way they hype each other up.

“You know everyone’s gonna be there for you, even if you have a really bad day,” she said.

The team also does several team bonding activities during the season when practices are rained out, ranging from trivia to team banquets, which Tran said allows her to learn more about her teammates.

She typically practices with her team four times a week, from either 3:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. or 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for late practices. Practices are helpful for her, as she gets to hone her own skills as well as watch other teammates play, she said.

Tran also considers her coaches a great benefit to her, and considers head coach David Lane to be especially supportive.

“He can see what you need help with, and he really tries to help you,” she said. “Our other coaches do the same, and they make you laugh a lot too.” 

She also said that her coaches’ practice strategies — such as having matches with them and having tailored drills — were effective for her.

During a match, she describes the sport as both competitive and fun simultaneously.

“You want to win, but you also just want to have your best time on the court,” she said.

One challenge Tran has faced during tennis was letting the game go to her head and losing confidence, she said. She overcame this by remembering that she can do it — she’s proven so at practices — and repeating what she does during practice during real matches. 

Outside of athletics, Tran is a La Salle student ambassador and a member of her church’s choir.

Her faith and church community are very important aspects in her life; she joined the choir along with her sister to help out and learn how to improve her singing.

She joined the La Salle Ambassadors to take on a leadership role at La Salle, as well as to be with some of her friends who had also joined the program.

“It’s really fun, because I like getting to go behind the scenes and help out with events,” she said. “Also interacting with the families that come to some of the events is really fun.” 

Overall, Tran has really enjoyed La Salle thus far, enjoying the large community and the amount of people she is able to interact with.