Russellville’s Strickland taking tennis talents to Central Alabama Community College

Recent Russellville High School graduate and former Golden Tiger varsity girls’ tennis player Addie Strickland will be taking her tennis talents to Central Alabama Community College, a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association, next season. Strickland, surrounded by coaches and teammates, signed with the Trojans at a ceremony held at the Russellville Field House on June 28.

Strickland, a member of two state runner-up teams at Russellville, said she is excited to be able to continue her playing career.

“Just getting to play more after high school (led to the decision),” Strickland said. “I thought I was done with playing after high school and then I realized I wasn’t.

“I looked at a lot of other colleges and then just narrowed it down,” she added. “I really liked the school, and the coach and the campus were really great so that’s what made me want to go there.”

Russellville varsity girls’ tennis head coach Charlotte Dollar said she’s glad to see Strickland get the chance to compete at the college level.

“(Strickland) expressed she had a desire to play at the next level all year,” Dollar said. “She had a couple of different junior colleges talking to her and looking at her…and she had the opportunity to go to more than one. CACC is where she ended up choosing to go, and we’re excited for her to have this opportunity.

“Her sister played at CACC, as well, so she’s familiar with the program,” Dollar added. “They’ve got some really nice facilities. I know she’s excited about the opportunity to further her education and play tennis.

“I hope she really enjoys her years there and uses them wisely to get an education.”

In her final season at Russellville, Strickland competed as an individual and played doubles at the state tournament after helping her team win another Section 8 title. Alongside Kaitlin Speck, Strickland advanced to the quarterfinals in their doubles flight at the state tournament, aiding the Golden Tigers in their red map run in Mobile. Strickland was also an individual quarterfinalist at the state tournament in 2022 when Russellville finished as the runner-up.

One of Strickland’s best attributes on the court, Dollar said, is her strength and power. The Golden Tiger coach said that part of her game will aid her in collegiate competition.

“Addie has a super strong serve. It’s just knock-em-dead. She has a powerful serve that I think will really work to her advantage at the college level. It’s very overpowering,” Dollar said. “She’s strong, and she hits really hard backhands and forehands both. She’s already going to be at the power level that they play at at the junior college level.”

Strickland believes her mental strength is also an asset for her.

“I don’t give up and I keep pushing myself even when I’m down,” she said.

When she gets to Central Alabama Strickland said she is looking forward to meeting her new teammates; she wants to build a similar dynamic and familiarity with them as she had with her high school teammates.

“I think it’s important just being able to work as a team and to get along and fend for each other,” she said. “I want to encourage each teammate and build those relationships like I had at Russellville.”

Strickland has a few other goals for her first year away from home, as well.

“I’m hoping to make new friends, have a successful season, and just learning to become independent in college being so far away,” she said.

In the classroom Strickland is planning to study criminal behavioral psychology.

“I’ve always been interested in the crime field,” she said. “And with my dad being a probation officer, I’ve just always been kind of drawn to that kind of thing. I wanted to work in something in that field, and I’ve always loved the psychology part of it. I thought that would be the best job for me.”

Off to a new place and a new school to learn new things this fall, Strickland said some lessons she learned at Russellville she will be sure to remember as she starts her college journey.

“I learned to know to keep pushing myself and not to give up,” she said. “If you have a goal, keep striving for it.”