AMARAH GHORI
DEI Chair & Asst. Opinion Editor
Photo by BECCA TORNCELLO | Sports Photographer
In the world of college athletics, it’s normal for a coach to act as your mentor in life and as someone who will help you invest in your future.
For Fredonia State women’s tennis player Bernadette Gens, her coach happens to be her mother, Jane.
Jane Gens is the head coach of the women’s tennis team. This mother-daughter relationship has created a unique dynamic between college, home life and competitive tennis.
Their journey is not just about the sport of tennis and winning matches, but it’s also about a legacy that has deepened their connection.
This legacy has helped Fredonia’s tennis team reach levels of success that they haven’t seen in several years.
The team finished the fall season 5-7, which may not exactly jump off the page.
But it looks better than a combined record of 3-25 over the previous three seasons.
To make matters worse, the team went from April 25, 2021 to September 11, 2023 without a single win, a stretch of 21 straight losses.
Jane was hired as the head coach in April of 2022, and she began to build a program that has slowly improved during her tenure.
Part of the improvement is thanks to a player who Jane is very familiar with.
Bernadette was the team’s top player this past season, playing first singles and first doubles alongside Lucy Prevet.
The Prevet/Gens first doubles team went 5-3 on the season, while Bernadette was 4-4 on first singles.
Bernadette’s talents and Jane’s coaching have helped to stabilize a program that sorely needed it before they arrived.
Their story encapsulates their strong relationship and how shared passions can bring families together. Tennis has shaped their lives, individually and collectively.
Jane’s tennis journey began in the 1970s.
“I grew up during a time when girls’ sports were limited, but my brother and I became instant hitting partners,” she said. “Tennis has always been a part of my life — it’s a lifestyle for me,” she said.
Jane played competitively in high school and college, playing during her undergraduate years at the University at Buffalo before transitioning into coaching, where she has been able to share her passion for the sport with her family.
Bernadette followed in her mother’s footsteps, as she delved into tennis at a young age. “I started playing tennis when I was three,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I ever loved playing, but it was something I was passionate about and enjoyed progressing in.”
Her early exposure to tennis was organic and wasn’t a result of her mother playing, but it stemmed from being around the sport a lot. Jane brought her to the tennis lessons she taught at Delaware Park in Buffalo when Bernadette was only three.
Tennis has always been a part of Bernadette’s life, but her choosing to play tennis in college wasn’t always the main goal.
In middle school and high school, Bernadette struggled with chronic kneecap dislocations which impacted her ability to play.
“I had accepted that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play,” she said, reflecting on the physical setbacks she dealt with. It wasn’t until after undergoing knee reconstruction surgery at 19 that she saw a path back to tennis. “Since I got it fixed and enrolled at Fredonia, I developed a second wind to play again,” she said.
Jane being the head coach of the women’s tennis team here at Fredonia wasn’t exactly what led Bernadette to come to Fredonia.
“I chose Fredonia mainly because of the exercise science program,” Bernadette explains. “My mom coaching me in college was in some way a coincidence.”
The two found themselves working together in tennis after all.
The idea of a mother being the coach of her daughter might seem like it brings its challenges, but Bernadette says it feels natural.
“Since she has always been my coach, it really hasn’t changed our dynamic or [our] relationship at all,” Bernadette said.
Jane feels the same, saying that their connection on the court is nothing out of the ordinary and has always been a part of their lives. “I’ve never thought about it much because I’ve included Bernadette in the process of a tennis lifestyle,” Jane said.
The mother-daughter relationship, while unique within their team, hasn’t affected the team.
“I don’t think it really impacts my teammates because my mom treats me the same as everyone else,” Bernadette explains. “Besides me calling her ‘Mom’ during practice and matches, that’s really the only difference.”
The journey of coaching and playing together has deepened the bond between Jane and Bernadette. “The shared experience is priceless,” Jane reflected. “She was the one who wanted to coach, and I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for her.”
Jane also reflects on how incredible it was to see her daughter come back from her knee surgery, ready to take on tennis again.
“She needed knee reconstruction in the fall of 2022 after her first season, came back to coach the next year and then decided to play the following year,” Jane said.
Looking toward the rest of the season, Jane hopes that Bernadette’s game and knowledge will continue to grow and that she has fun finishing out her college tennis career.
Bernadette has her own goals for the rest of the year. “I want to create long-standing traditions and set the tone for the team moving forward so that when I graduate, they have a strong foundation.”
While the fall tennis season has come to an end, the team does have a few matches in the spring before the SUNYAC Championships at the end of April.
The spring season, when it begins, will provide one last chance for the Gens mother-daughter duo to shine for Fredonia tennis.
