From Player to Coach: Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell Aces the Transition

PHOTO: Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com Iowa assistant coach Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell talks with Barbora Pokorna and Tereza Dejnozkova during a doubles match against the Kentucky Wildcats at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center.

To say that Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell (20BA, 21MA) had a successful career playing tennis for Iowa would be an understatement. She was the first player in Big Ten Conference history to earn five first-team All-Big Ten honors. She also served up 180 combined wins for the Hawkeyes—placing her second in Iowa women’s tennis history.

“My true senior year at Iowa was cut short by COVID, so the opportunity to have an additional year was very special to me,” says van Heuvelen Treadwell. “It also allowed me to earn a master’s degree in sport and recreation management—and to spend another year with amazing coaches and an amazing team.”

Street hockey, sure. But street tennis?

Treadwell’s journey to a top tennis talent began very close to home.

“I started playing as soon as I could hold a tennis racket,” says van Heuvelen Treadwell. “My dad was coaching tennis part time and when he would come home, I would be waiting with a tennis racket in my hand. The street we lived on was not busy, so we would go out on the street and hit balls to each other.”

Treadwell credits those street tennis sessions for improving her hand-eye coordination and growing her love of the game. During a high school career that included national school championships and numerous individual awards, van Heuvelen Treadwell set her sights on college tennis.

So how did van Heuvelen Treadwell—who grew up 70 miles from Wimbledon—end up playing tennis more than 4,100 miles from home?

“I put a video of me playing tennis on YouTube, and that was sent out by an agent I was using to contact different colleges,” says van Heuvelen Treadwell. “I went on some college visits, and I eventually picked Iowa as the place I wanted to spend my college years studying and playing tennis.”

PHOTO: Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com Iowa’s Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell reacts to winning a point during a match against Purdue in 2021.

Bringing a love of tennis to future generations

While van Heuvelen Treadwell credits much of her playing success to Iowa women’s head tennis coach Sasha Boros (96BA, 99JD), she also praises Boros for inspiring her coaching interest.

“I thought it would be great to use my experience to help others grow and excel in tennis,” says van Heuvelen Treadwell. “After graduating from Iowa, I accepted an assistant coach position with the University of Delaware women’s tennis.”

But an unexpected opening at Iowa two months later gave the decorated Hawkeye a chance to return to her alma mater as an assistant coach.

PHOTO: Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com Iowa head coach Sasha Boros and assistant coach Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell during a photo shoot at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I learned a lot from Coach Boros as a student-athlete, and she has been a massive inspiration and one of the most important people in my life,” says van Heuvelen Treadwell. “She instilled so much confidence in me, and she also understands that competing in sports is a great mechanism for later in life, so it was a perfect fit.”

Transitioning from a coach-player relationship to a coach-assistant matchup has gone well for van Heuvelen Treadwell and Boros. She highlights how they each bring different strengths to their coaching collaboration.

“I love the ins and outs of tennis—the tactical and technical side of things,” says van Heuvelen Treadwell. “Sasha is great with team culture and bringing the team together, so we balance each other out and work hard to offer a great experience in empowering these young women to succeed.”

She admits she wasn’t always the easiest player to coach. The Hawkeye player-turned-coach credits her former coach—now boss—with guiding her to a better mindset.

“I think Coach Boros would say she prefers me now to what I was like as a student-athlete,” van Heuvelen Treadwell says. “When I first joined the team, I was very stubborn, and I had to learn how to open up a bit and take direction. I felt Sasha’s incredible impact on me from day one, and I’m still learning from her.”