NICOLE ALBERTSON
Staff Writer
As six members of the Pepperdine women’s tennis team battle opponents on separate courts of the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Head Coach Gualberto Escudero watches each player intently and offers advice from his decades of coaching experience. Escudero, also a Pepperdine alumnus, is celebrating his 30th season at Pepperdine University as a head coach.
Escudero’s life in star-struck Malibu is a stark contrast to his adobe house upbringing in Quillacollo, Bolivia without running water in the bathrooms or kitchen. Escudero said he values the simplicity of that life and the family experiences.
“It was a fun way of living,” Escudero said. “My dad made ice cream and the family sold it on the streets.”
At age 10, Escudero and his family moved to the United States and settled in Hollywood. He began to pick up English within two weeks of his arrival because his school did not offer bilingual classes, only English.
But a tragic accident one night sparked his knowledge of the language. While crossing the street at night to catch up with his siblings, Escudero was struck by a car and broke his leg. His month-and-a-half stay at the hospital taught him English in a hurry. Along with help from Western movies, cartoons and children’s books, Escudero credits his English to this horrible accident.
“I had to learn English,” Escudero said. “That’s all they would speak to me in.”
After adapting to life in America, Escudero was exposed to his passion at age 14. His Hollywood neighbors, Archie and Galia, “a beautiful blonde,” casually asked Escudero to come outside and play his first game of tennis.
“I fell in love immediately after the first few balls,” he said.
The next move to West Los Angeles enrolled Escudero in Hollywood High, where he became the No.-1 player on the tennis team every year he was enrolled.
“I knew I had to make my mark,” he said.
His efforts paid off when the Pepperdine coach offered him a college scholarship. Escudero obliged and began his Pepperdine career in the fall of 1968.
“Pepperdine is about people,” Escudero said, “and I have known them for a lifetime. It is like coming home.”
When Escudero was 27 years old he was offered a coaching job for the men’s team, but because he was asked to wait until a few other coaches declined, including then-current Head Coach Allan Fox, Escudero chose the women’s team instead.
“I knew that job would be taken very quickly, and Allen Fox was at Pepperdine for 15 years, so I wanted the women’s instead,” Escudero said. “I started at probably one of the best jobs in the nation. I started where most people like to end.”
His encouraging track record is a result of his motivation for the team’s success. But the increasing pressure on himself and the players makes it harder to spend time on the court. With more e-mails and meetings for him and harder classes and obligations for the students resulting in less time on the court, Escudero declares that we live in a fast life and we do not have time to sit down and smell the coffee.
“I wish I could spend more time on the court and less time in the office,” he said.
Motivating players after 30 years of coaching has been a trick. Escudero relies on the natural pressures supplied around the court. The national champion men’s team practices on the neighboring court, displaying its confidence and strength. Practice games with the champion Waves keep the women sharp and determined. But as in most teams, the natural pecking order aims attention toward the strongest player on the team and encourages others improve and compare.
“There is a natural motivation around the area,” Escudero said. “The players feel responsible to continue the old success, and they are competitors.”
The past few years have seen a change in tennis because of the influx of international students. As many come for the connections, education and teams, there is a rise in the level of competition for college tennis. Pepperdine is stepping up to the challenge and recruiting foreign players. The women’s tennis team already includes six international players from Germany, Spain, Canada, Romania and Latvia.
“We are still very competitive with the top teams and we want to get better,” Escudero said. “Technology is allowing more access for people to see Pepperdine. In the future, maybe I will travel to Europe for players.”
Escudero considers Pepperdine a family and the team his children.
“I love seeing them grown up,” he said. “We are just a big family and we touch each other’s lives every now and then.”
Romania international student and No.-1 singles junior Bianca Dulgheru experiences the connection and communication with Escudero.
“He loves watching us on the court,” Dulgheru said. “He is warm to us and very close to us. He is not only like a tennis coach for me. He makes me feel at home.”
Dulgheru is a self-proclaimed difficult player. She claims to be set in her ways and used to speak her mind with Escudero on the court earlier in her career. But now Escudero has found a way to work with the complex competitor.
“He lets me play the way I want, and when I’m in a difficult situation he gives me advice,” she said. “He knows us and communicates with us. He makes us feel happy on the court and is not loud, unlike other coaches who yell.”
Thirty years after the beginning of his career, Escudero is living in Thousand Oaks with his Vietnamese wife Thanh Ha of more than 18 years. They have two sons, 15 and 18 — one in his freshman year at UCLA. While neither one shows a passion for tennis like his father, Escudero can’t help bragging about his blessings.
“I have a great life and a great place to live,” he said. “I just always tell my players that they should be thankful for such a beautiful place.”
Escudero’s attraction to Pepperdine is still vibrant and going strong.
“I’m not ready to retire,” he said. “They will have to kick me out of Pepperdine. After I do, though, maybe I can come back with a fundraiser and raise lots of money.
“I don’t think I can cut the ties off yet. I don’t want to leave this place because I still love it here.”
02-08-2007
