The Sunday News
Senior Sports Reporter
UNITED States of America based Zimbabwean tennis coach Tanya Gombera has been named head coach of the Northern Illinois University women’s tennis team.
According to the university’s website, NIU associate vice-president and director of athletics Sean Frazier made the announcement last Thursday.Frazier was full of praise for the Zimbabwean saying that the 26-year old was well-equipped to become the ninth head coach in the history of the Huskie women’s tennis programme.
“Tanya Gombera quickly rose to the top in an outstanding pool of candidates for this position. She has a vision for the programme that will move Huskie women’s tennis forward and her ability to connect with people — from recruits to student-athletes to alumni — and familiarity with the Mid-American Conference will be a huge asset to NIU,’’ said Frazier.
Gombera, a former tennis standout at the University of Akron, comes to NIU and returns to the Mid-American Conference after spending two seasons as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s tennis teams at the University of North Dakota. At UND, she helped the women’s tennis team contend for a spot in the Big Sky Tournament, coached the school’s first women’s All-Big Sky team selection and oversaw a significant improvement in the newly-started men’s tennis programme.
Prior to her time at North Dakota, Gombera served as interim head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi for the 2012 season. This promotion followed her time as a graduate assistant coach at USM from 2010-12 where she recruited international players and aided in the day-to-day operations for the Golden Eagles, in addition to her on-court coaching duties. She also spent one season as the head tennis coach at Malone University in Canton, Ohio and served as the tennis marketing director at the Towpath Tennis Center.
“I want to thank (Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics) Sean Frazier, (Associate Athletic Director) Mark Muhlhauser and the hiring committee for all their work,” Gombera said. “I’m excited to be a part of the Huskie Family and excited to come back and coach in the MAC. The NIU athletic department has a great tradition in all of its sports and I’m looking forward to working with the women’s tennis team and building the programme.”
Gombera enjoyed a successful tennis playing career after growing up as a tennis prodigy in Zimbabwe.
She represented Zimbabwe in the Africa Junior Championships and Zimbabwe Schools Team. She won a silver medal at the All-Africa Games in Nigeria in 2003 and also represented Zimbabwe at the Afro-Asia Games. She competed in many International Tennis Federation (ITF) events and reached an ITF ranking of 453rd in the world.
