Growing up as a tennis player in Philadelphia, Traci Green needed a role model in the sport to help take her game to a new level. She discovered one in Zina Garrison.

“She was the main black player we saw on TV. That was amazing for me because she was someone who looked like me. It was really important for me because there weren’t really many people who looked like me or practiced like me.”

Green took her talents to the University of Florida where she helped the Gators win a national championship. Like her mother, Tina Sloan Green, a retired coaching legend at Temple, Traci got into leading young athletes and has been the women’s tennis coach at Harvard for the last 13 years. Green shared her view of the bigger picture for her players in an interview with the USTA,

“We are developing future leaders. Being a true part of the Harvard community is always challenging. It sounds like a play on words, but our athletes are not tennis players that go to Harvard. They are Harvard students that play tennis.”

Green has coached numerous All-Americans and countless personalities. Her job is to weave them all together for the good of the school.

“I enjoy the amazing process of seeing a group of individuals come together as a team, work hard together, learn and grow together, compete hard together and ultimately achieve their goals.”

Green also sits on the board of Black Women in Sport Foundation, which was co-founded by her mother. They both play an integral role in developing young female African Americans, giving them opportunities to excel in sports and society.

Photo Credit: Twitter