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Kourtney Howell
Freshman at Cypress Woods
Tennis State Finalist
Kourtney will head to Austin for the State Tennis Meet after winning Regionals in the girls singles. Although she is only a freshman, Kourtney has years of tennis experience and Athlete’s Connection wants to recognize her as our All-Star Athlete for her hard work, dedication, and all of her many accomplishments. We have allowed Kourtney to explain in her own words her love for the game and her success in tennis.
I started playing tennis at the age of five years old, hitting tennis balls with my dad. My tournament play began in May 2000 at the age of eight with the Houston Tennis Association ten and under Grand Prix Circuit. At the age of nine I started playing United State Tennis Association (UTSA) Zone Advancement Tournaments (ZAT). I moved through the different levels of the USTA and started playing National tournaments at the age of ten.
Due to the travel and practice time involved, my former and now current coach, Scott Flippin Read, suggested I begin boarding, home schooling, and training at Elite TNT Tennis Academy in April Sound on Lake Conroe. At Elite TNT I received top quality tennis instructions for three years from Brian Poynter. Brian is the founder and director of Elite TNT Tennis Academy. While attending I received a sponsorship from Prince Sports. We practiced for five hours and one hour of fitness each day five days a week.
In October of 2006 I moved back home to Fairfield in Cypress Texas so that I could finish up the first semester of ninth grade and go to public school in January. I started high school at Cypress Woods High at the end of January 2007.
My first high school tournament I was nervous. This was the first time Coach Calhoun and my teammates watched me play a match. I ended the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss before the district tournament. I won the district tournament and qualified for the regional tournament. At regionals, I had two tough matches but I came back to win both of them and qualify for State.
I have won many state and local tournaments, but I am most proud of my national titles. I have five USTA national open titles, three gold, one in singles and two in doubles. I also have two silver medals as finalist, they are both for doubles. I won the Texas Excellence Tournament for singles in 2003, which moved me to the number one ranking in Texas in twelve and under. I received the sportsmanship award at the National Hard Court Championship in 2005 and was ranked in the top five in the country in girl’s 14 doubles and top 15 in girl’s 16 doubles with Taylor Vick.
I enjoy tennis very much. I have been playing for over half of my life. I love the feeling of playing and winning a tough three set match. My short term goals in tennis are to play the best tennis that I can at State, to develop my game to its maximum potential, and to win a gold ball at one of the 4 National Championships. Long term, I would like to attend and play tennis for the University of Texas or somewhere in Southern California.
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