MEET OUR GRADUATES: Lauren Macera, Tennis Star
Before her senior year in high school at LaSalle Academy, Lauren Macera decided to make a stark change in her athletic pursuits. She switched from softball to tennis.
“I’d always been invested in softball, going to tournaments every weekend, but I wanted a fresh start before heading into college,” Macera recalls. “My brother had a passion for tennis and persuaded me to do it as well.”
Playing tennis garnered not only accolades for Macera on the court but provided direction for her career off the court.
During her first year at RIC, Macera, a health and physical education major, was named Rookie of the Year in the Little East Conference (LEC) and was the conference’s top player in singles and doubles action the last two consecutive seasons. Additionally, she helped lead the Anchorwomen to two LEC regular season championships, a LEC tournament title and a NCAA Division III championship appearance.
At the 2025 Cap and Gown ceremony, Macera received the Bourget Family Award, which honors a student for their outstanding scholastic and athletic achievement. She is graduating cum laude with a 3.4 grade point average.
While she’s seeking to land a position as a health or physical education teacher in either Rhode Island or Massachusetts, Macera was recently hired to coach the tennis squads at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket.
“The main thing I want to get across to my players is that tennis is more mental than physical,” she says. “It’s half strategy and half skills. I like to focus on strategy because most kids know the technique of tennis and are physically fit to play.”
“Coaching is also filling the void of no longer playing in college,” says Macera. “However, the one great thing about tennis is that it’s a lifelong activity. I see people in their 70s and 80s still playing it.”
A daughter of two RIC graduates of education who became teachers, Macera is following in their footsteps. She says her role at Mount Saint Charles Academy represents only a fraction of what she foresees in her future in health and physical education.
“I plan to go on to pursue my master’s degree in the near future in either business or sports administration,” she says. “I’m interested in being an athletic director one day.”
For now, this Cranston native is content with teaching students. She’s certified to teach K-12 but isn’t certain about whether she prefers a class of younger or older students.
“Elementary students are so passionate and eager to learn,” she says. “Meanwhile, with middle and high schoolers, it’s interesting to see how they respond to the information a teacher delivers. So, I like all the grades for different reasons.”
Adam Spring, her tennis coach at RIC, says she will be a powerful advocate for guiding the young.
“Lauren will boldly lead her students,” he says. “Her expertise in physical education and health will positively impact their young lives and the teams she coaches in the future will be successful because of her unique talent to get the best out of those around her.”
Learn more about the B.A. in health and physical education program.