The score is now six-love for the Loyola Athletics program, which has added a women’s tennis team to the spring semester.
The introduction of tennis to the school is a move to comply with Title IX and to comply with Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regulations. Title IX is part of the Education Amendment of 1972 is a Federal Law that prohibits sexual discrimination in any educational program or institution.
“We were going to lose our conference affiliation, because the NAIA had given the GCAC a three year probation period following Katrina because they didn’t have enough teams in prospective sports,” Giorlando said. “To be considered a conference you need to have six programs in men and women’s sports in the fall, winter and spring.”
Since the conference was not in compliance with this rule because did not have enough women’s teams in the spring, schools had to create the programs, if not, the conference would not exist in 2010.
Loyola was one of the schools to do so.  “This is not the way we wanted to do it, but we just had to do what we had to do,” he said. Giorlando tapped Zubin Engineer to become Loyola’s first ever women’s tennis coach. Already, Engineer expressed to be excited about his new role.
“I think it’s a great opportunity. I think the time is right, since tennis is coming back to a lot of schools,” he said. “UNO has a tennis program that has just come back, Tulane University has just brought it back, so it’s exciting that Loyola has decided to start a program.”
Giorlando said Engineer immediately stood out from the other candidates who were interviewed for the position.
“He obviously seemed perfect for Loyola. He wants his players to focus on the academic world and the student affairs world,” Giorlando said. Engineer has 18 years of experience where he belonged to the United States Professional Tennis Association and has also trained professional tennis players from around the world.
Experience has taught Engineer that to be successful in tennis, it takes more than just practicing and playing well. This seems to fit perfectly with Ignatian ideals, where you teach the whole person.
“Over the years I have developed a philosophy where you have to coach the whole person. That would be, not just about tennis, but teaching them to be able to control their minds in competitions, as well as control their emotions,” he said. “My job would be to facilitate to them to be able to improve their skills to the best of their ability.”
This philosophy is also what helped Engineer accept Giorlando’s offer. “I liked Loyola’s tradition of good academics mixed with sports and that seemed like a good tradition to be a part of,” he said. “The academics helps to keep the players focused, and makes them want to go on. Tennis is also a good way for them to achieve a pathway towards their future.”
Engineer will be meeting the players this week when they come back and will also have tryouts in September, to complete the roster before the season starts in the fall. There will be a conference meeting in October, to schedule the conference.
“I look forward to putting together a team that is strong in the mind and the heart,” he said. He is being realistic; however, in terms of the goals he wishes to accomplish, since this is the first year of the program’s existence.
“I think in the first year, I would like to work on their game and make sure they have the competitive skills needed to compete against other schools that will also be playing their best,” he said.
By keeping things simple at first, he expects to be able to get the best out of his players. “At first I want to make sure they have the right skills to compete, then, a long term goal is to put together some wins to see what we can achieve,” he said.
Before coming to Loyola, Engineer worked at the Tennis Academy of Asia. More importantly, he knows how to win. While in Asia, he led the Thailand national team to a gold medal in the Asian Games and four South East Asian Games Gold Medals.
The team will consist of 12 players; however, only six of those players will be the ones playing in every tournament.
It’s not yet certain where the team will practice. The tennis courts at Audubon Park and the Tulane University courts are the two options available. Loyola has not announced which will be their official practice location.
The expansion teams won’t stop here. Giorlando said the next plan is to add a men’s tennis team.
“This is part of our recruiting and retention plan,” he said. “Sports teams bring people to the university and it’s been proven that student athletes have a higher retention rates than the regular students.”

Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected]