Hey, Gators.
I’m India Houghton, a Gator athlete on the women’s tennis team and your freshly minted Alligator sports columnist. I’m a master’s student at UF, a Northern California native and an alumna of Stanford University, where I earned a bachelor’s in science, technology and society. It’s my first year in The Swamp and in the SEC, and I can confidently say it already feels like home. It’s true: The SEC truly does just mean more.
This Spring, I’ll be covering everything from the roaring O’Connell Center to the quiet putting greens at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. What are Xaivian Lee’s pregame rituals? How will Kayla DiCello return after last season’s Achilles tear? What do your favorite UF football players eat for breakfast? It’s all coming. Just you wait.
Let’s kick things off with an inside look at how I spent my winter break as a UF athlete.
Over the break, I spent two weeks under the peak summer sun in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand. Sheep dotted the countryside like flakes of salt, surfers walked barefoot in the local cafes straight from the ocean and the sun didn’t set until well past 9 p.m.
Why New Zealand? For tennis, of course. I can’t remember the last time I traveled for leisure and not for a tournament. The sport has filled my winter, spring and summer breaks for the past decade, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Professional tennis works a bit differently than football or basketball. Instead of nationally televised drafts and signing day contracts, early professional tennis careers begin quietly. Really quietly. Think obscure locations like the eastern coast of Tunisia, where camels walk on the beach, or the mountaintop city of Kayseri, Turkey, at the foot of the Mount Erciyes dormant volcano. Think empty stands, sometimes with a single fan watching, sometimes no one watching at all. Last summer, I played a three-hour marathon of a professional qualifying match in the outskirts of London, witnessed only by my opponent’s parents.
To start building their individual professional ranking, many college tennis players compete in pro tournaments during school breaks or fit in tournaments around their college competition schedules. Hence my trip to New Zealand this winter break.
New Zealand was filled with fun-loving Kiwi people drinking crisp Steinlager beer, watching local cricket matches and surfing rolling waves in the turquoise ocean waters.
For me, it was filled with hours on the tennis court, routine post-match stretches, dinners at Rice Rice Baby (a must-visit Vietnamese spot on the North Island) and then more hours on the court. If you ever need recommendations on the best ice cream or coffee, I’ve got you (shoutout Duck Island Ice Cream and Rocket Coffee).
My results earned me coveted ranking points, and the trip was an all-around success. But that’s not always how it goes.
I’ve played tournaments in places so remote it takes a six-hour bus ride through Serbian forests just to reach the tournament site. I’ve played a tournament in Mexico with armed police circling the courts in Humvees. The stories are endless.
These experiences — the good, the bad and the ugly — show a side of college and professional athletics you don’t always see. They rarely make the highlight reel, but they often define games, seasons and athletes in ways beyond the box score.
This Spring, I want to bring you inside that world — whether it’s a packed arena in Gainesville or a solo early Saturday morning practice — all while celebrating everything that makes competing in The Swamp so special. Athletic excellence often happens where no one is watching.
So buckle up, Gators. From the grind to the glory, and everything in between, I’ll be bringing you along for it all.
Welcome to The Match Point.
Contact India Houghton at ihoughton@alligator.org. Follow her on X @indiahoughton16.
