The seniors hail from two different countries, but both are leaders.
Paula Gutierrez from Alhaurrin de la Torre, Spain, and Kim Schmider from Cheshire, England, are now in their fourth seasons with the IU women’s tennis team. First-year head coach and longtime assistant Ramiro Azcui has made the duo his team leaders. They have eagerly accepted their roles.
“We try to be the role models for them,” Gutierrez said of her teammates. “We try to teach them how things are done and how Ramiro likes things to be done.”
Schmider and Gutierrez are good friends and top talents for the Hoosiers, but they had different paths to get to IU.
Gutierrez said she got into tennis when she was six.
“My parents were really into the healthy life and thought that kids needed to play sports,” Gutierrez said. “We went to a tennis class, and I was really interested, so I just starting playing.”
Schmider, on the other hand, was introduced to the sport through her family, particularly her older brother, who already played the sport.
Schmider and Gutierrez were both successful while playing before college. At one point Schmider was the No. 1 ranked player in England. She trained with IU alumnus Josh MacTaggart, who played for the men’s tennis team. Schmider found IU through MacTaggart.
“He got me in contact with Coach (Lin) Loring,” Schmider said. “I had heard so much about Coach Loring and the program, so it just went from there.”
Gutierrez played in the U.S. Open Junior Championships in New York City when she was 17, where a lot of college scouts were. Universities in Spain don’t have much in the way of sports programs so she chose IU for the combination of the tennis program and the Kelley School of Business, Gutierrez said.
She’s found the style of play and competition between Spain and the United States to be very different.
“Coming from Spain we all play more defensive because we are used to playing on clay courts,” Gutierrez said. “The girls here are a lot stronger so I think I’m a lot faster and stronger now than I was before I came here.”
Schmider said the level of play in the U.S. is much greater than in England. She said there was a definite adjustment period for her once she began playing tennis collegiately.
“It was a shock seeing so many girls that were better than me,” Schmider said. “I made that transition mentally and physically, knowing I had to work a lot harder to get where I wanted to be.”
Schmider’s game has evolved since coming to IU, and she has become more of a doubles player than singles, positioned at the No. 1 doubles spot with sophomore Madison Appel.
“Before I came here, my doubles was OK,” Schmider said. “It wasn’t anything special, but now from being here my doubles has improved so much.”
Gutierrez and Schmider are the only two seniors on a team of nine. When Loring retired earlier this year after 40 years at the helm of the program, Azcui said he immediately sought Schmider and Gutierrez’s help to run the team.
“Once coach retired, I wanted them to really take ownership of the team,” Azcui said. “I wanted them to help me lead this team because I knew emotionally we were going to be a little fragile with the departure of coach.”
The two weren’t shy about it. They have grown to become best friends during their four years, which they said makes leading the team together easier. Gutierrez said she and Schmider lean on each other for support.
Schmider said they are willing to do whatever Azcui asks because they know it will help better the team. As part of the team themselves, Schmider and Gutierrez know that sometimes their teammates listen better when something comes from a fellow student-athlete.
Despite having a few more responsibilities than the average player, the two emphasized they see themselves as equals with their fellow Hoosiers.
“It’s hard to say leaders,” Schmider said of her and Gutierrez’s role. “The girls know what’s going on so it’s more if they have any problems they know they can come to us. I see us as more of an integral part of the team than an outside leader.”
Azcui said he has enjoyed the help he’s received from his leaders thus far and said they have made his transition to head coach much easier.
“I think both of them have accepted the challenge,” Azcui said. “Both of them have been terrific with helping me so far. They take care of the little details where sometimes I don’t see it and they do. It’s been very rewarding to see how much they’ve grown and how much they care about this program.”
