'Coaching showed me a path to survive’

Michael Collins, also known as AHM Taswar, was the first coach from the Rajshahi Tennis Complex to take up a coaching job abroad, pioneering a path that many have followed since. After trying to make it as a tennis player from 1992 to 2004 and representing Bangladesh in the Davis Cup thrice, he turned to coaching and has worked in China, Japan and the USA since. While on vacation in Rajshahi recently, he spoke with The Daily Star's Anwar Ali where he shared the story of how his dream shifted from being a tennis star to becoming a tennis coach.

The Daily Star (DS): How did you first fall in love with tennis?

Michael Collins (MC): I was captivated by tennis in my childhood, seeing my father watching tennis matches on television. I wanted to play like Andre Agassi.

DS: How did you get started in tennis?

MC: The Rajshahi Tennis Complex had offered free training for school-goers for three months. I was among the 150 students who took up the opportunity. Out of us, around 50 played tennis for a long time. But only I survived in tennis professionally.

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DS: How serious were you about tennis?

MC: When I started playing tennis, I quit all the other games. My father taught me that a man cannot become the master of all at once. Instead of cycling, I ran between my home in Sepoypara and the tennis court under Rajshahi's sun. When others practised for one hour, I did double that. I always wanted to be the best.

DS: After winning championships at the national level and taking part in the Davis Cup, you quit as a player and became a coach instead. Why?

MC: There is a saying that tennis is the game of kings. Even a king's pockets would run dry bearing the mounting costs of pursuing playing tennis as a profession. Tennis is a royal game. To chase the dream of becoming a player, you need to chase tournaments, not just at home, but across the globe. You need to play against the best over and over till you become one of them yourself.

The best players take part in tournaments all over to earn ranking points. Three flights a week is normal. I didn't have the resources to continue that chase. It would've cost a fortune, which I never had. I played in a few countries just to qualify for Davis Cup. And my father still says that I had drained his savings dry.

DS: How did you get into coaching?

MC: I first started helping juniors at the tennis complex in 1996. Rajshahi Tennis Complex used to host international junior tournaments annually, where many foreign dignitaries would come, particularly from China. Tennis was booming in China and the number of tennis clubs was on the rise. But the clubs lacked qualified coaches. When some Chinese clubs showed interest in hiring coaches from Rajshahi, I started leaning toward tennis coaching.

In 2004, a year after I had completed the ITF Coach Education Level 2 certification, I got offered a job at Potter's Wheel International Tennis Academy in Beijing. It was a life-changing moment. Tennis that had both challenged and frustrated me as a player, had finally shown me a way to survive as a coach. The next year, I took the job of head coach at Broadwell Tennis Academy in Beijing for five years.

DS: Where else have you coached since then?

MC: In 2010, I became the head coach at Beijing's Asaki Tennis Club. I also became a co-director at the club and went to Japan and USA coaching WTA-ranking players. In 2020, I went to the Inspiration Academy Tennis of Florida in the USA as a coach. This year, I am close to signing an agreement with a Shanghai-based tennis academy.

DS: Many others from the Rajshahi academy have followed your footsteps and gone overseas as coaches…

MC: It is not surprising that all tennis players here will run at the opportunity to become a coach. A player cannot earn more than Tk 50,000 after a year of hard work in Bangladesh. But one can start as a beginner tennis coach in China and fetch over USD 1000 per month.

DS: What do you think needs to happen for tennis to progress in Bangladesh?

MC: Everywhere in the world, tennis players progress with sponsorship. For players in Bangladesh to take up tennis as a profession, the government and the big companies have to start sponsoring the players.