What is the Role of the College Coach ft Rod Ray

About this episode

Coach Rod Ray discusses his role in college tennis and what he looks for in recruits.

Welcome to Season 15 Episode 15 of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week, Coach Rod Ray is back to talk about his role as "coach" to Wofford tennis players and what he looks for in recruits. Rod has been coaching for 26 years, and he's seen so many changes to tennis development and the college recruiting process. Underneath it all, however, wanting "good people" on his team has never changed. Rod explains what that means to him - hint: it goes well beyond wins and losses! From the parents' perspective, Rod discusses what parents should be looking for in a coach for their child(ren). That again goes beyond wins and losses and really centers around character. Rod's own sons pursued sport at a high level, so he has learned along the way the importance of finding that good coach and being that good coach for so many other athletes. To get in touch with Coach Rod, you can reach him via his website at https://hardcomesfirst.com/ or by phone at 864-809-8827. His email is RayRA@Wofford.Edu . Rod is also on Instagram at https://instagram.com/rodray_ . As always, I am available for one-to-one consults to work with you as you find your way through junior tennis and the…

People in this episode

Host: Lisa Stone

Guest: Rod Ray

Topics covered

• college tennis
• coaching
• recruitment
• character development
• parenting in sports

Keywords

• college coach
• tennis recruitment
• character in sports
• Wofford tennis
• parenting in athletics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wofford, hardcomesfirst.com, Instagram, parentingaces.com

More episodes of ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

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• The Road to High Performance ft Sukhwa Young, Jack Satterfield, & Ronit Karki · June 3, 2026 · 53 min
• Taking a Closer Look at the State of Junior Tennis ft Joel Drucker · May 27, 2026 · 43 min
• For the Parents: Working on Your Mental Game ft Brian Lomax · May 20, 2026 · 53 min
• The International Player Dilemma ft Mikkel Bjerk-Andresen · May 13, 2026 · 48 min
• The Latest on College Recruiting ft Madison Harrison & Natalie Suk · May 6, 2026 · 41 min