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By Bob Weiner
Although
tennis is an individual sport, Darcie and Joe Trapasso have forged a successful University at Albany team by creating
a family with hats. Make that HATs, as in Health, Academics and Tennis. “We love tennis,” said Joe Trapasso, the former head coach at Siena College who now helps his wife run the Albany program. “The game helps us out as coaches and individuals, and as husband and wife. We like to have fun, and we want the kids to do the same. Off the court, we enjoy their camaraderie. We also believe that our players are fortunate to play for a program that has such academic strength. Even though we’re going to be Division I, grades still come first. That’s why we believe in health, academics and tennis.” Enjoying themselves along the way, the Great Danes nearly won their fourth straight New England Collegiate Conference tennis championship last season, losing to host Binghamton in the NECC Championships by just two points in the team standings. Junior captain Julie Bliss won her third straight Flight I Singles title and was named the Most Outstanding Singles Player for the third consecutive season. Sophomores Erinn Langford and Jennifer Hahn captured the Flight III Doubles crown, while Darcie Trapasso was named the NECC Coach of the Year. Success aside, the Danes are enjoying the Trapassos’ road to Division I. “Darcie and Joe are devoted to the team,” said Hahn. “I was a walk-on. I came here for the academics, and I didn’t think I had much of a chance to make the team. But Darcie and Joe told me to keep working. They have a sense of team unity, but also know when to push us a little harder as individuals.” “They’re great,” added Langford, who combined with Hahn for an 8-3 doubles record and compiled a 9-5 record in singles this season. “The Trapassos make it fun outside of just everyday practice. It’s not a pressure situation. Whether we win or lose, they’re there for us. I couldn’t be happier here. It came down to the coaches, the area and the academics as to why I came here. I know I made the right choice.”
Kate McCarthy, a sophomore from Rochester, could have taken her game almost anywhere, but she chose Albany. “Tennis is the main reason I came here. I applied to 10 schools and had academic scholarships at several,” said McCarthy. “But I really liked the coaches here. Albany gave me an overall balance of life with my tennis and my academics.” The Trapassos have preached that kind of balance all of their lives, but it was tennis that brought them together as an inseparable team. “We actually met through tennis,” said Darcie, a Walton, N.Y., native who attended Cortland State and then transferred to Albany, from which she graduated in 1993. “I played five sports in high school—volleyball, golf, basketball, track and tennis—but I eventually focused on tennis. One day, I was playing some recreational tennis, and Joe and I just happened to start talking to each other.” Darcie played tennis while at Cortland, and she gradually fell in love with both playing and coaching the game. She worked at the Tri-City Racquet Club, taught grammar school for a while and then became Joe’s assistant coach at Siena College. When the Albany position became available in 1993, she got the job. Joe later came on board as her assistant.
Joe, who earned a business economics degree at LeMoyne College in 1973, coached Siena’s team through its transition to Division I. Now he’s relishing the move back to that level. “The competition is unbelievable,” he said. “Our kids will have to step it up, and the transition will be tough, but Darcie and I are looking forward to it. We have a real family attitude here that is very comfortable. That’s what’s so nice about this place.”
Bob Weiner, B.A.’82, is a sports reporter for the Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y.  Back to Cover
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Darcie
focuses more on the physical part of the game, while Joe tends to concentrate more on the mental aspects. “He’s
more emotional and mental,” she said. “I’m sports-technical. I talk about how to hit the ball and where to hit
it. He steers players into a different direction, like mental toughness.”