By Khadijah Torbert

You may recognize Dominique Ingram serving from the baseline of a tennis court at Marion Military Institute.

"I'm pretty aggressive with how much I do for tennis, "said Ingram. "Like, I'm waking up at 4:30 (am) now to go to the gym at 4:50 (am) and I do gym stuff for an hour five days a week and then I do tennis 2 to 4 hours in a day."   

He explains why he returned back for his third year at MMI after last year's season was cancelled. 

"I wanted to come back to Marion to be as excellent of a leader as I could for a whole year and just be dedicated," said Ingram.

Many people may not know that before tennis, he dabbled in, and exceeded in other sports. But, a tragic incident 5 years ago guided him to the hard courts after years of recovery and patience.  

Ingram said, "growing up, I was a pretty athletic kid. Football was the one I loved the most and in my heart I knew it was something I wanted to do. Even maybe coaching football."

Unfortunately that journey wasn't exactly the path that he ended up taking because of an injured knee early in his sophomore year of high school, resulting in three knee surgeries and an 18 month recovery.

Ingram says he had a serious talk with his parents this past summer where they revelead doctors told them he wouldn't be able to return to any sport and that the chances of making it back were really low. That didn't stop Ingram, from not only trying out for a sport he had never done-tennis, but taking his recovery process one step at a time while rehabbing everyday and pushing himself.

One thing he's pushing himself to do is creating his own Mantra.

"Over the break, I was actually thinking of everything that happened the last year and how Americans, well everyone around the world, were inspired by Kobe Bryant and the Mamba Mentality," Ingram said. "I took some time and evaluated some things and wanted to make my own thing similar to that, so I created the DOMinate Demeanor and it's an emphasis on the first 3 letters."

Dominique is not just a go-getter when it comes to tennis, he also dabbeled in ultimate frisbee and LOVED IT!

"It's not even the normal way people throw a frisbee," said Ingram. "It's a thing called a forehand, where you flick it with your wrist the other direction. I for some reason got really hooked on learning how to do that. So, I spent three straight weeks practicing, and when I went home I ended up doing frisbee for a week and it just hit me, frisbee isn't paying for my tuition.  I got to get on the tennis court." 

Ingram had a few goals for his teammates and the remainder of the tennis season.

"As far as for what I want the team to do, I want us first to win. I think that's what any athlete wants. But more importantly, I want us to a standard at the end of the year where hard work actually does lead to success," said Ingram. "I feel that last year's team was the most talented Marion team, and we don't know what would've happened because the season was cut short. So I just want my team right now to work as hard as they can every single day." 

He also adds that he hopes his teammates returning for next season will tell other teammates what it takes to 'make it' on and off the court.

Be sure to look for Dominique Ingram and the rest of the Marion Military Institute Men's Tennis team Friday January 29, 2021 at 11AM.

For a full breakdown of the Men's 2020-2021 Tennis Season Standings visit acccathletics.com.