April 4, 2007
By Matthew Bunch
Editor’s Note: Matthew Bunch is a student in the University of Miami’s sports writing class taught by Michelle Kaufman, a sports writer for the Miami Herald.
Coral Gables, Fla. (www. hurricanesports.com) – – She’s among the longest-serving coaches at the University of Miami. She’s led her program back to dominance, taking her team as far as the NCAA finals. Odds are, however, that you’ve never heard her name. She is tennis coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, and she is an integral part of Hurricane athletics.
It seemed like Yaroshuk-Tews was destined to be a ‘Cane since she was born. Her father, Ernie Yaroshuk, played baseball for Miami from 1961-1963. Joe DiMaggio once noticed young Yaroshuk, identifying a flaw in his swing. DiMaggio gave tips to then- Head Coach Ron Fraser, who worked with Yaroshuk. He then went on to lead the team with a .448 batting average in his senior season, and was enshrined in the UM Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. From a young age, Paige Yaroshuk-Tews seemed to inherit her father’s athletic ability; she seemed to grow attached to sports.”Growing up, I played soccer and softball. When I was about 10, my dad said, `You could be a jack of all trades and a master of none, or you can focus on a sport.'”
Those words led Yaroshuk-Tews to a sport she first started participating in when she was just eight or nine years old. Her parents would play socially, and Paige always tagged along.
“I remember hitting on the wall and just really enjoying being around the sport,” she said. “I mean, I was pretty athletic, and so I picked tennis, and it proved to work.”
She refined her craft, becoming a top-flight player for perennial girl’s tennis powerhouse Killian High School. In 1991, during her high school career, she was ranked as high as No. 1 in the state.
When it came time for Paige to pick a college, the doors were wide open. Ultimately, it was down to two tennis powerhouses.
“I chose to go out to LA because, believe it or not, it was down to the University of Florida and UCLA,” said Yaroshuk-Tews. “At the time, the academics at UCLA were far superior to the academics at Florida.”
She found success at UCLA, despite multiple injuries. She was named All-PAC 10 in both singles and doubles, winning the PAC-10 Indoor and Outdoor Doubles Champions with Keri Phebus, a tandem ranked as high as No. 1 during the 1996 season. Yaroshuk-Tews was a great player in her own right, with a singles ranking as high as No. 13 in the nation.
All the while, she earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology, earning PAC-10 Academic honors.
Despite the lure of Southern California, L.A. couldn’t keep her forever. When a job opening as a trainer with the USTA development center on Key Biscayne became available, she knew what she wanted to do.”I came back is because this is my home. Florida is my home; this is where my family is,” said Yaroshuk-Tews. “I love LA as well, but, coming home or staying in L.A., I didn’t really even have to think about that. I knew that after school, eventually I would come back home.”
However the job, and the life it brought, soon wore thin. Globetrotting didn’t entertain Yaroshuk-Tews forever.
“The assistant coach at Miami called me. He said, `Listen, I’m leaving, I’m taking a head coaching job, would you be interested in being the assistant coach?’ Then, of course, I wanted to get into college coaching, and I was in the right place at the right time.”
“When I started working at UM, we were [No.] 35 in the country. I really couldn’t believe that. In the back of my mind, I was like, `My god, this is the University of Miami. If Miami’s not a powerhouse, who’s going to be a powerhouse?'”
So she began to climb the ranks, focused on returning Miami to greatness. She began as an assistant coach in 1996, eventually, working her way up to associate head coach. When then-Head Coach Jay Berger left to become a USTA Men’s National Coach, Yaroshuk-Tews was ready to step in.
“Listen, there are so many coaches that could coach tennis at the University of Miami and be successful. I mean, everybody wants to come to Miami. It’s not like I’m doing anything special.”
Despite her modesty, she has been doing something, that’s for sure. Since taking over as head coach in 2002, wins have steadily increased. She’s coached two No. 1 players, Megan Bradley and current team member Audra Cohen. Miami has returned to prominence in college tennis. And the program has done it thanks to a belief in hard work instilled by Yaroshuk-Tews.
“She really believes in hard work, and we have the philosophy of, how they say, ‘dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s,'” said Assistant Coach David Anderton, who’s worked with Yaroshuk-Tews since 2004.”It’s very much a philosophy at Miami of just working hard every day. In working hard every day, good things are going to happen on the tennis court, and it’s the same thing in academics.”
Some are forced to sacrifice themselves to achieve success; that’s not the case for Yaroshuk-Tews. She’s been married for three years to Scott Tews, who Paige assures is not a tennis player. They have one young daughter, Emma. Paige still does things the way she’s been taught since her youth; focus on what you do well.
“A lot of coaches are looking for a way to find the next big player to attach their name to, and she isn’t like that,” said Bradley, still a friend of Yaroshuk-Tews to this day. “I think she cared about me as a person first, and as a player second.”