TenniStory: In Boca Raton, Kyle LaCroix is setting the standard for players and coaches alike

“I had this dream that I would win Wimbledon at 17…”

Since his very first practice at ten years old, Kyle LaCroix fell in love with tennis. The racquet became an extension of his being as he rose to the Top 50 in Florida's state junior rankings.

“…I didn’t win Wimbledon, but I wasn’t deterred,” La Croix said. “Coaching was a great evolution for me, and I’m so glad I stuck with it.”

Standing tall at 6’6’’ and sometimes confused for football linebacker Brian Urlacher, LaCroix turns heads to this day when he says tennis is his sport.

But it wasn’t easy getting to this point.

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“I lived in my car for about three weeks in a shopping center parking lot,” LaCroix said. “I couldn’t believe I was doing it, but I didn’t have any other options at the time. I was a little too stubborn to ask for help from anyone else.”

Interviewing for a tennis club that wasn’t even built yet, he packed up all his belongings and moved to Boca Raton in hope that he would land the job.

There were construction delays, there was uncertainty with his position—and there was a Walmart parking lot where he slept, ate and showered.

“It was definitely a character-building experience for me, but if you want something bad enough, you suck it up and you find a way,” LaCroix said. “That’s one of the great things that tennis has always taught me, you’re going to struggle and you’re going to suffer a little bit, but you have to just endure that. There’s a lot of great life lessons to be had through tennis that got me through this.”

On October 18, 2004, LaCroix got his call.

He became the first hire at The Oaks at Boca Raton, “and the rest is history.”

The award-winning club has 12 tennis courts—10 har-tru, one red clay, and one deco-turf hard. Offering both junior and adult programs, The Oaks also hosts competitive teams and events throughout the year.

“I’ve always been a very optimistic, positive person, I have a lot more things to be grateful for than ungrateful for,” LaCroix said. “Just having the opportunity to be involved in tennis, knowing I have the capabilities of changing someone’s life, I’m just really, really thankful.”

One of approximately 145 USPTA Master Professionals in the world, LaCroix has big plans for the future of his sport.

"We talk about making players better, but we also have an obligation to make coaches better, so that’s where I see the future headed,” LaCroix said. “I’m working with more and more coaches now, I have coaches reaching out to me from all over the world asking for my help, my mentorship and guidance.”

He might not have won Wimbledon like Boris Becker at 17, but Kyle LaCroix is living proof that tennis can offer you more than a pastime if you let it.

e talk about making players better, but we also have an obligation to make coaches better, so that’s where I see the future headed,” LaCroix said. “I’m working with more and more coaches now, I have coaches reaching out to me from all over the world asking for my help, my mentorship and guidance.”

He might not have won Wimbledon like Boris Becker at 17, but Kyle LaCroix is living proof that tennis can offer you more than a pastime if you let it.