French teacher Emmanuelle Tamaroff is coaching girls tennis at Lafayette for the first time. She grew up playing tennis in France, competing in a mini-tournament at the Roland-Garros, the venue of a major tennis tournament held over the span of two weeks beginning in May every year in France.

How do you think your French upbringing affected your life and decision to come to America?

Well, I came here because I love the English language so I wanted to learn more and I didn’t want to go to England, because I lived close to England. In French culture, we show a lot of American movies and American music, so it was like a dream from the TV and from social media. Social media didn’t exist when I was young, but on the TV and radio, all you hear is American music, American movies, it’s the dream to come to the US.

How do you feel your time training at the Roland-Garros helped you to now help young tennis players?

It definitely gave me a lot of insights, even though I was not a professional or anything, it’s kind of neat to show [the girls I coach] how to keep calm. It was still a bit overwhelming because I was young and it’s such a big building, a big event, but it helps me teach the kids to take their time, to not be overwhelmed by big things, and [to take it] one day at a time.

What made you decide to become a tennis coach?

I do two of my favorite things in the world, work with kids, and play tennis. Those two passions combined, I didn’t hesitate when I saw there was an opening, I’m like, “I want to do it.” I used to coach little kids in France, but not for pay or anything, just for fun, so now that I’m a teacher, I thought, “teaching tennis, that’s the best of both worlds.”

How does tennis training in France compare to tennis training in America?

It’s very different because in France we don’t have after school sports, so we do all private training. So on Wednesday morning, I had school, Wednesday afternoon I went to play tennis. I play tennis every day after school, but Wednesday afternoon was for club practice. It was one-on-one training, I was never with a team because I’m a single player. I like the team mentality, I like the after school, in France we don’t have any of that.

What is your favorite thing about coaching tennis at Lafayette?

The girls, they’re just so fun, it’s like a big family. I know it’s my first year but everybody has been so nice and so supportive and the parents have been wonderful too. It’s nice because a lot of the girls, I don’t have them in class, so I get to know more kids and I see them all the time and they come and they say “hey, coach” but yeah, knowing the kids, knowing more girls, and just sharing some amazing moments together.