Impact of a Scholarship: Jeri Ingram

Every year, the four Grand Slam Tennis tournaments invite college tennis players to play in the qualifying round. In 1989, Maryland tennis star Jeri Ingram was invited to the qualifiers of the Australian Open. Ingram would advance through the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open and find herself in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournament. Ingram entered as the No. 2 seeded player in the qualifying rounds and won two matches to make it to the main draw. Although she would fall in the first round to former Wimbledon winner Jana Novotná 7-5, 7-5, it was still a very impressive performance for Ingram.

1989 would get even better for Ingram, as that season she would go on to win the ACC singles championship, with a perfect undefeated record. Ingram was also named ACC MVP that season, the only player to do so in Maryland history. Her time at Maryland helped open the door for her professional tennis career. 

“Being a part of the tennis team in the ACC kind of opened the opportunity for me to get wildcards at professional tournaments,” Ingram said. “And then with those wildcards, I was immediately able to get ranked inside the top 200 in the world. So that created a platform for me to begin playing on the WTA tour.”

While at Maryland, Ingram enjoyed the academic aspect as well. She was very thankful for being on scholarship and not having to worry about paying for school, and the access to priority registration that came with being on an athletic scholarship. Ingram also enjoyed the sense of community at Maryland, and enjoyed spending her time on campus at the student union, and fondly remembers homecomings. 

“It's invaluable because not only do you get the athletic scholarship and that education to go with it, you also innately get the tools to be able to manage all of that, and that is learning within itself. There's so much more that individuals are getting out of it through this process.”

Before attending the University of Maryland, Ingram was a local high school standout in Montgomery County. Ingram rose to the top of USTA national rankings during her high school career, reaching No. 6 in singles and No. 1 in doubles. Perhaps her most impressive feat was finishing her high school career with a 106-0 record, becoming the first unbeaten tennis player in Maryland high school history.

Following her dominant high school career, Ingram had offers from all over the country. However, after visiting Maryland and getting a tour from then-coach Bobby Goeltz, Ingram decided staying home was her best option. 

Two of the main reasons Ingram decided to attend Maryland were the opportunity to be on a full scholarship and the Maryland tennis practices. Ingram had attended local tennis practices and clinics throughout her youth career, and the coaches at Maryland were flexible with those commitments. Having the opportunity to practice and play with the Maryland tennis team while still working with her own team was one of the key factors.

“The biggest draw was that he [coach Goeltz] was going to give me the latitude to continue to coach with my practice and be coached by my team that was trying to take me to the professional level. I obviously had to attend the practices and the matches, but having the option and flexibility that I'm going to be playing three hours of tennis with the team, but, if I play two or three more hours at tennis, he's not going to penalize me for that.”

Playing tennis at Maryland helped expose Ingram to a new side of tennis, one that is not cutthroat and competitive at all times. Being on the tennis team also helped Ingram find a sense of belonging and a group of friends that helped her acclimate to college quicker. Ingram also fondly remembered the camaraderie amongst all athletes, not just those on the tennis team.

“I found out that tennis could be fun and you can actually play somebody and be their friend at the same time. And not that I didn't have friends in tennis, but junior tennis at that time was so competitive and it was kind of like, ‘It's either me or you,’ you but in the team environment it’s not.”

Following her career at Maryland, Ingram competed professionally on the WTA Tour. Ingram would compete and travel the world for eight years before she retired from professional tennis. During her professional career, Ingram would make the main draw of the U.S. Open in 1993 and win four ITF titles. Her highest career ranking was No. 130.

Ingram used many of the connections she made during her playing career to help kickstart her post-retirement career. 

“And then once I came off tour, I was at Maryland for a year and wanted to get my actual degree. So I went and I did that in business administration. And so I merged my tennis experience and my love for creating opportunities for other youth and people to grow the game of tennis and then kind of put it into the business space.”

Currently, Ingram works for Metropolitan Tennis & Education Group, MTEG, where she is a coach, co-founder, and chief executive officer. She also currently serves as a USTA Community Tennis Association (CTA) Chair, a USTA Mid-Atlantic Board of Director member, and as a USTA MAS Coaches Commission member.