Completed Event: Men's Tennis versus Baylor on April 16, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 4
Final Score
Men's Tennis
1
vs Baylor
4
The University of Utah Athletics
Paul McCallie: World Traveler
10/4/2018 9:06 AM | Men's Tennis
By Riley Elliott
Athletics Communications Student Assistant
Growing up all over the world, Paul McCallie's exposure to tennis was very different than most others. His first introduction to the sport was in South Africa, after watching his brother play for a few years, he thought he would give it a shot as well.
"I started playing tennis mostly because my brother played the sport," recalled McCallie. "I looked up to my brother a lot and I decided that I should try it out for myself. I started off with tennis just training at the same facility my brother trained at. We had a private coach, that was for the first three years of when I first started playing. After that, I just went to academies, trained and played in tournaments."
McCallie was born in Zimbabwe, and then moved to South Africa a year later, first playing tennis at the age of seven. After his time in South Africa, his family then moved to Dubia, where tennis became more of a serious sport for him. From Dubai, his family then moved to Thailand, where he then started playing in his first competitive tournaments.
"Looking back, out of every place that I lived, I definitely enjoyed Thailand the most. Mainly because of the food and culture, I just had a lot of fun with living there and its somewhere that I want to go again. It was also where tennis kind of took off for me, and after that I was very determined to make a name for myself in the sport," said McCallie. "I first started competing in tournaments around the age of 12. The first time was pretty daunting, I didn't know what to expect. Overall, I enjoyed it, and that has been what has kept me going."
Besides tennis, McCallie also played baseball and soccer growing up, while he was traveling around the world. At around age 10, he stopped playing baseball, and before his freshman year of high school, he decided to stop pursuing soccer as well. Both of these decisions were spearheaded behind his determination for a future in tennis.
"I decided that tennis was something I wanted to pursue my freshman year, that's usually when the sport starts to get more serious," explained McCallie "It's a lot bigger of a commitment as a player, so I had to decide, and I chose tennis because it was what I was best at."
After spending some time living in Thailand, McCallie and his family then came to the United States to live in Minnesota. During his time in Minnesota, McCallie played varsity tennis for his local public high school, in seventh and eighth grade. It was a great introduction for McCallie with the competition he would be facing here in the U.S., but he was still determined to achieve greater things. When he reached the end of his eighth-grade year, McCallie then made the decision to be homeschooled for the rest of high school, so that he could focus on tennis.
Following his time spent living in Minnesota, his family then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where McCallie started competing in USTA tournaments. During his time competing in USTA tournaments, he was one of 31 players to be named to the USTA Junior Leadership team, and was also a recipient of the Team Spirit Award at the USTA Spring Team Championships. At one point, he was ranked as high as No. 27 in the USTA National Rankings, coming out of USTA play as a four-star recruit.
"I had a pretty good ranking in singles and doubles for USTA, I was very competitive in most tournaments that I played. It's a grind, a lot of the toughness and battles from USTA carry over into collegiate tennis," said McCallie.
When McCallie's time with playing USTA tennis was over with, he then put his focus towards where he was going to play for collegiate tennis. With as much publicity that he had received from his success with USTA, there were many schools that were after McCallie, but there was one school that stuck out to him in particular in the west.
"Since I had been moving around my entire life, I wanted to get out of the south and explore a new part of the United States. I hadn't really spent much time in the west or west coast at all, so I was looking at schools out there," said McCallie. "Utah was very appealing with the mountains, I really like the mountains and outdoors. Utah also had a good tennis program, they had great coaches, and I could see myself fitting in there well."
Now attending the University of Utah as a freshman, McCallie has been taking all of the experiences of his first-year in. The college transition has been very simple for him though, as he learned independence from a young age through living in so many different places. Now that McCallie is her to stay, he is looking forward to his future as a Ute, and also looking forward to doing whatever he can to help the team.
"While I'm here at the University of Utah, I'm hoping to reach the top of my game and potential," said McCallie. "While doing that, also having a lot of fun with the people around me and enjoying their company, while helping them out and providing a good time for them as well."
Throughout his time here at the University of Utah, McCallie is planning on earning a degree in Business Administration. Once he has graduates, he plans to move to Europe and pursue a career with his degree, potentially in Berlin, Germany, where his older brother is currently working. Until then, McCallie has high aspirations to make the most out of his time here as a Ute, both on and off the court. As spring competition approaches, watch for the four-star recruit to make his impression on this University of Utah men's tennis team, and compete for a spot in the starting singles lineup.
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Athletics Communications Student Assistant
Growing up all over the world, Paul McCallie's exposure to tennis was very different than most others. His first introduction to the sport was in South Africa, after watching his brother play for a few years, he thought he would give it a shot as well.
"I started playing tennis mostly because my brother played the sport," recalled McCallie. "I looked up to my brother a lot and I decided that I should try it out for myself. I started off with tennis just training at the same facility my brother trained at. We had a private coach, that was for the first three years of when I first started playing. After that, I just went to academies, trained and played in tournaments."
McCallie was born in Zimbabwe, and then moved to South Africa a year later, first playing tennis at the age of seven. After his time in South Africa, his family then moved to Dubia, where tennis became more of a serious sport for him. From Dubai, his family then moved to Thailand, where he then started playing in his first competitive tournaments.
"Looking back, out of every place that I lived, I definitely enjoyed Thailand the most. Mainly because of the food and culture, I just had a lot of fun with living there and its somewhere that I want to go again. It was also where tennis kind of took off for me, and after that I was very determined to make a name for myself in the sport," said McCallie. "I first started competing in tournaments around the age of 12. The first time was pretty daunting, I didn't know what to expect. Overall, I enjoyed it, and that has been what has kept me going."
Besides tennis, McCallie also played baseball and soccer growing up, while he was traveling around the world. At around age 10, he stopped playing baseball, and before his freshman year of high school, he decided to stop pursuing soccer as well. Both of these decisions were spearheaded behind his determination for a future in tennis.
"I decided that tennis was something I wanted to pursue my freshman year, that's usually when the sport starts to get more serious," explained McCallie "It's a lot bigger of a commitment as a player, so I had to decide, and I chose tennis because it was what I was best at."
After spending some time living in Thailand, McCallie and his family then came to the United States to live in Minnesota. During his time in Minnesota, McCallie played varsity tennis for his local public high school, in seventh and eighth grade. It was a great introduction for McCallie with the competition he would be facing here in the U.S., but he was still determined to achieve greater things. When he reached the end of his eighth-grade year, McCallie then made the decision to be homeschooled for the rest of high school, so that he could focus on tennis.
Following his time spent living in Minnesota, his family then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where McCallie started competing in USTA tournaments. During his time competing in USTA tournaments, he was one of 31 players to be named to the USTA Junior Leadership team, and was also a recipient of the Team Spirit Award at the USTA Spring Team Championships. At one point, he was ranked as high as No. 27 in the USTA National Rankings, coming out of USTA play as a four-star recruit.
"I had a pretty good ranking in singles and doubles for USTA, I was very competitive in most tournaments that I played. It's a grind, a lot of the toughness and battles from USTA carry over into collegiate tennis," said McCallie.
When McCallie's time with playing USTA tennis was over with, he then put his focus towards where he was going to play for collegiate tennis. With as much publicity that he had received from his success with USTA, there were many schools that were after McCallie, but there was one school that stuck out to him in particular in the west.
"Since I had been moving around my entire life, I wanted to get out of the south and explore a new part of the United States. I hadn't really spent much time in the west or west coast at all, so I was looking at schools out there," said McCallie. "Utah was very appealing with the mountains, I really like the mountains and outdoors. Utah also had a good tennis program, they had great coaches, and I could see myself fitting in there well."
Now attending the University of Utah as a freshman, McCallie has been taking all of the experiences of his first-year in. The college transition has been very simple for him though, as he learned independence from a young age through living in so many different places. Now that McCallie is her to stay, he is looking forward to his future as a Ute, and also looking forward to doing whatever he can to help the team.
"While I'm here at the University of Utah, I'm hoping to reach the top of my game and potential," said McCallie. "While doing that, also having a lot of fun with the people around me and enjoying their company, while helping them out and providing a good time for them as well."
Throughout his time here at the University of Utah, McCallie is planning on earning a degree in Business Administration. Once he has graduates, he plans to move to Europe and pursue a career with his degree, potentially in Berlin, Germany, where his older brother is currently working. Until then, McCallie has high aspirations to make the most out of his time here as a Ute, both on and off the court. As spring competition approaches, watch for the four-star recruit to make his impression on this University of Utah men's tennis team, and compete for a spot in the starting singles lineup.
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Players Mentioned
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