My name is Athena Nathalia, I am 21 years old from Indonesia. I am studying BSc. Psychology with Sports and Exercise Science at University of Exeter. I am also playing for the first team of the university’s tennis and under their sport excellence scholarship. To begin with, I am a tennis athlete who consider gym as my second home. I have been playing tennis for about 14 years and been playing competitively since. I train intensively for 5-6 times a week both on tennis court and the gym, where some days I do twice sessions of tennis. Fitness is my vital weapon and plays a significant role in tennis. I do a lot of fitness conditioning and high intensity training to boost up my performance. I am also into powerlifting and crossfit, although I am still a beginner in that field. Finally, I do yoga and pilates for my active recovery.
I have lived in the UK for almost two years now, however I started competing in tennis again from the beginning of January 2015 and currently ranked 113 nationally (http://www.lta.org.uk/competitions/playerprofile/?pid=1-WQF665). In the meantime, I also do tennis coaching mostly for junior players. Being a coach means I must be a good role model on and off court. I ensure every players to enjoy their sessions while developing their skills. At this moment, I own a level 2 LTA tennis coaching qualification and will try to pursue level 3 next year.
The things that motivate and inspire me the most are progress which involves the amount of work you put in every day and lifting others up to achieve their goals. I would love to help everyone to accomplish something, be that in tennis or fitness. I would like to set examples that results come in from relentless work and from an individual or people that we look up to.
