Roland Thornqvist

Roland Thornqvist
Sport(s) Women's tennis
Current position
Title Head coach
Team University of Florida
Conference Southeastern Conference
Record 249–30 (.892)
Biographical details
Born March 3, 1970 (1970-03-03) (age 42)
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Playing career
1993–1996 University of North Carolina
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002–current
1999–2001
1997–1998
University of Florida
University of North Carolina
University of Kansas
Head coaching record
Overall 324–80 (.802)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA (2003, 2011)
Southeastern Conference
(2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
Southeastern Conference Tournament
(2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011)
Awards
SEC Coach of the Year (2004, 2006, 2010)
ITA National Coach of the Year (2011)

Roland Thornqvist (born March 3, 1970) is a Swedish-born American college tennis coach and former college tennis player. Thornqvist is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's tennis team of the University of Florida. He is best known for leading the Florida Gators to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I national championships in 2003 and 2011.

Contents

Early years

Thornqvist was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1970.

College career

Thornqvist attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels men's tennis team from 1990 to 1993. He was recognized as a three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection in 1991, 1992 and 1993, and a first-team All-American in 1993.[1] Thornqvist graduated from North Carolina with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1996.[1]

Coaching career

Thornqviust was the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks women's tennis team at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas in 1997 and 1998. From 1999 to 2001, he was the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis team at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina.[1]

In 2002, Thornqvist became the head coach of the Florida Gators women's tennis program at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Since then, Thornqvist has been one of the top college tennis coaches in the country. He has compiled a record of 249–30 overall at the University of Florida, and has an overall coaching record of 324–80. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament every year since he has been the head coach of the Gators. In 2003 and again in 2011, the Gators women's tennis team won the NCAA Division I National Championship.[1] Thornqvist's Lady Gators have also finished second in the NCAA tournament in 2002 and 2010.[1]

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named Thornqvist as its national Coach of the Year in 2011.[2]

See also

Biography portal
Tennis portal

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c d e GatorZone.com, Women's Tennis coaching & Support Staff, Roland Thornqvist. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  2. ^ "Roland Thornqvist Named Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year," GatorZone.com (June 8, 2011). Retrieved June 16, 2011.