Coleman Looks Back on Preseason Trip to Ocean Reef

The Duke women’s tennis team headed to Ocean Reef in Florida just after the New Year and spent six days for preseason training and team bonding.  Junior Ellie Coleman looks back on the incredible trip as the Blue Devils prepare to open the 2024 campaign on Saturday against SMU at 1 p.m.

We started 2024 with another unforgettable trip to The Ocean Reef Club. We arrived on January 3, stoked to be back together as a team and ready for preseason. Those of us who were on the team last year were happy to be back for another trip and those of us who are new were excited to experience it for the first time.

We had the pleasure of being invited to Spike Yoh’s house again for an amazing dinner on the first night. We enjoyed spending time with Spike and his family. The first morning we started off with sprints on the basketball court. I think we were all a little humbled by the Florida humidity, but pushed through as a team to finish strong. After running, we took some downtime at the pool before practice in the afternoon. We all appreciated the warm weather and a chance to catch up with each other after winter break. We then took the golf carts over to the courts for the first hit of the trip. We enjoyed meeting some members who were nice enough to stop by our practice. We wrapped up the night with dinner at a unique collection of food trucks and glow in the dark mini golf. Danny (Leitner) and G (Gerhard Gruindelingh) came out on top after an intense nine holes of competition.

The next morning, we headed over to the gym for a team lift. There was a nice outdoor lifting space where we were able to do our workout. We all enjoyed getting a little extra sun and taking advantage of the amazing amenities provided for us. After this we grabbed some lunch and headed to the courts for practice. After practice, we played in a pro-am with the members which was a lot of fun. It was great to see some familiar faces from last year and meet new members as well. We finished up the night hanging out at the ice cream store, overlooking the marina.

Saturday started with a trip to an alligator farm just outside of Ocean Reef. This was cool because none of us had seen anything like this. The farm raises endangered species of alligators and houses other species like snakes, bobcats, and crocodiles. We got to ride on an airboat…