First team All-Coastal Canyon League. Varsity Team Captain. CIF Division I Semifinalist. 3-star recruit in the class of 2025. With these accolades, senior Austin Lamy has committed to Pomona-Pitzer to play tennis after a long recruiting process.
“I was looking at schools such as NYU, Swarthmore, Case Western, Carnegie Mellon and the Claremont colleges because they were schools where I could play tennis and also had strong academics,” Lamy said. “After calling and talking to multiple coaches, I felt most connected to the Pomona-Pitzer coach.”
Pomona-Pitzer seemed like the perfect school for Lamy. He visited the university twice and got a chance to tour and learn about the school as well as practice with their tennis team.
“Both the team and the school had absolutely everything I was looking for,” Lamy said. “Strong academics, high acceptance rates into medical school, strong team camaraderie, amazing food, close to home and good weather.”
Lamy’s journey to becoming a collegiate athlete was not without its challenges. He started playing tennis from a very young age and was not originally enamored with the sport.
“I started tennis at four years old and I played until I was around nine years old,” Lamy said. “I then tried some other sports such as football and soccer.”
After making his return to tennis in middle school, Lamy quickly rose up the ranks and started really focusing on tennis. He was excited to play for the high school team because he knew he was ready for stronger competition. It was at that point when he was forced to put a pause on tennis because of unforeseen circumstances.
“Before coming into my freshman year at Oak Park, I got in an accident and had to get surgery on my knee,” Lamy said. “I was out for about eight months.”
Coming back was a challenge, both mentally and physically. After an injury that drastic, he was forced to tackle rehab with a new mentality. All of this adversity only fueled him to return stronger.
“I was able to finish my freshman year strong,” Lamy said. “I gained more confidence and improved at a near-astronomical rate.”
Just as Lamy was ready to hit his stride, it all came crashing down again.
“Then again, at the start of my sophomore season I got a fracture on my right foot and was out for 2 months,” Lamy said. “At this time I did not even think about playing college tennis.”
Even without pursuing sports at the collegiate level, Lamy still worked just as hard to come back from his injury. After some time recovering, he spent the whole summer working hard to come back strong.
“I was working hard going into junior year, which is one of the most important years both academically and recruiting-wise,” Lamy said. “This was my most successful season so far but it did not come without its challenges.”
At the beginning of this season, Lamy lost a very close loved one.
“It was my biggest mental challenge I had to face yet,” Lamy said. “I have just been staying strong, and it clearly paid off.”
When reflecting on his body of work, Lamy struggled to narrow down to just a few favorite memories.
“It is hard to narrow down to my favorite memory from the tennis team just because of how much I enjoyed it,” Lamy said. “But here are a couple; playing with friends, winning against top teams and going far in both Ojai CIF and team CIF.”
Of course, all of this success did not come without hard work. Apart from being a stellar athlete on the court, Lamy is also a student first and foremost.
“Getting A’s in a bunch of APs requires a lot of work and training for hours after school for tennis,” Lamy said. “I never really had free time to hang out with friends or go to the beach.”
Through injuries, thinking he would not make it to college tennis, fun memories and tough experiences, Lamy’s story is still yet to be finished.
“A lot of people do not understand the work that goes on behind the scenes to get to this point,” Lamy said. “I am really excited to get out there and compete.”
