A lesson of motivation, professionalism, talent and humility is what junior Seamus Power and senior Enrique Olivares have to offer their teammates, friends and fans.
Olivares and Power are international student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in their sport at East Tennessee State University. Enrique Olivares, from Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, reached the highest preseason ranking in the history of the school by becoming the 31st collegiate tennis player in the nation in fall 2008.
Seamus Power left rainy Waterford, a town in South Eastern Ireland, to play golf and prove his value at ETSU. In 2007, after his first year in college, he won the Atlantic Sun individual Championship.
“Enrique has been an amazing part of our success over the last four years,” said Yaser Zaatini, head coach of the men’s tennis program. “Not only as a player and student but especially as a person, he has helped ETSU tennis reaffirm its place on the college tennis map.”
Olivares analyzed the decision to come to the United States and play tennis for a university. Tennis has been a part of his life since he was four years old, when his four brothers, all tennis players, took him to the courts.
After playing tournaments in South America and Europe during elementary and high school, he knew he wanted to continue playing tennis at a high level, but he did not want to neglect his education. “Even a professional player needs a back-up plan,” he said.
In contrast, Power did not need a lot of time to decide to fly over the ocean and become a member of the ETSU golf team. Coach Fred Warren, who traveled to Italy to see him play for the Irish national team at a tournament there, convinced Power to join the team a few months before the beginning of the 2006 fall semester. “The weather is a lot better here for golf and even though coming to the United States wasn’t a long-thought decision, I’m delighted with it and I have no regrets,” Power said.
During his childhood, Power flirted with other sports such as racquetball, where he was ranked sixth in the world at the age of 12.
He discovered golf when he was 11 and fell in love with it. “My dad’s friends were the ones who took me to the golf course,” Power said. “Since then, I kept playing it and I like it especially because it is unpredictable and complex. You never know what’s going to happen the next day.”
Even though Olivares is looking forward to obtaining his business degree in May, he wants to postpone the search for a job in finance until he has pursued his athletic dream. Like former ETSU player and teammate, Sebastian Serrano, Olivares will try to become a professional tennis player. His ninth place in the national ranking might be helpful, says teammate Jason Ramski.
Olivares hopes to surpass the performance of his coach, Zaatini, who was ranked fourth in the nation in 1992, the highest position achieved by an ETSU tennis player.
“I would love to beat him, but it’s hard to be in the top five,” Olivares said.
His capacity to overcome hurdles inspires Olivares’ teammates. Daniel Isaza, who has been Olivares’s teammate for three years, recalls that during his sophomore year, Olivares suffered some motivation issues. “He went home for the winter holiday, and when he returned, he was a totally different player,” Isaza said. “Nobody knows what happened during that month while he was away, but when he came back, he was ready to play on the No. 1 position for us.”
That time in 2007 was the most important period in his athletic evolution, Olivares says. “During the fall of my junior year, everything came together,” he said. “All of the sudden, I won a tournament (Georgia Southern Intercollegiate) and that made me gain some confidence.”
As his value as a tennis player has increased, Olivares has remained friendly and always willing to help, says teammate Alex Ahlgren. The two are best friends and have shared a house for three years. “When I transferred here, all my teammates spoke Spanish,” Ahlgren said. “Enrique was the only one who tried to speak with me in English.”
Ramski considers Enrique the “superstar of the team, but he still has his feet on the ground.” Zaatini calls Olivares “a quiet leader, who respects his teammates and they care and respect him back.”
While the student-athletes contribute much to their respective teams, both say that being part of a team made the transition to a foreign country easier. Even though a lot of things are different from home, an open mind and willingness to accept those differences will ease the adjustment process, Power said. “From the first day I came to the United States, I was part of a group, of a big family, and this made me feel less lonely and homesick,” Olivares said.
Being a member of a sport team also can also include challenges. During his first semester at ETSU, Seamus Power had a hard time understanding how an individual sport like golf can be played in a team, but soon he realized that “the best I can do for the team is to perform my best.”
After the first months of adjustment, Power stepped in as a nurturer of his teammates. “Seamus helped me the most to settle here,” said freshman Michael Stewart.
At the same time, Power’s “natural talent” has his teammates and coach expecting great things of him, golfer Paul O’Kane says.
“He is our top player and everybody in the team looks up to Seamus,” said head golf coach Fred Warren. “He is the epitome of a student-athlete, one of the best players we ever had at ETSU and also an honor student of the accounting department.”
His objective is to graduate and then return to Europe and play in the European Professional Tour, and Warren sees the potential.
“Right now, Seamus is playing some of his best golf so I definitely think he has a future in the game,” he said.
For both of these student-athletes, college means not only the opportunity to get a better education, but also the chance to take their athletic career to the highest level.
“When I came to the States, I thought my tennis career would be over after the four years of college,” Olivares said. “Fortunately, I improved a lot and now I have another chance to turn professional.”
Power also believes that he made the right decision by coming to play golf for ETSU. “Coming here has been a great experience, and I will be more prepared to play in the professional circuit after four years of collegiate golf,” he said. “Meanwhile, I am glad I have one more year to enjoy playing golf, traveling to tournaments, and being part of the team.

Author