Celebrating Black History Month: Rochelle “Coach Nikki” Houston

Tennis is a lifelong sport, and for Rochelle “Coach Nikki” Houston, the first time she picked up a racquet her life changed. That moment came when she was just three years old, and it turned into a lifetime of success and positive impact. 

Coach Nikki’s Tennis Journey 

“The story goes that my mom was in a tennis class and my dad saw her and joined the class so he could meet her,” she said. “Six months later they got married. My dad took tennis a step further and became a certified professional tennis coach with PTR.” Her mom would then introduce her to the sport and her dad became her childhood coach. 

Growing up playing tennis, she knew that her career would always be in the sport, whether playing on the pro circuit or coaching future stars. Coach Nikki was a junior sensation and her hard work on the court paid off as she played for four years at Florida A&M University. During her time at FAMU, she was the No. 1 Singles and Doubles player on her team and earned the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) All-Conference honors in 2002. 

While this led her to a career on the pro tour, things took a turn when she ran into a bump in her playing journey. “I was on the pro circuit and hurt my shoulder and I started thinking about what was next on my journey,” she recalled. “I mentioned to my college teammate that I am thinking about reaching out to college coaches to become an assistant coach.” Coach Nikki’s teammate informed her that her alma mater had an opening for the Head Coaching position. “I applied and rest is history.” 

She joined the program in 2015, taking over as the Women’s head coach and in 2017 she became the Director of Tennis at FAMU, overseeing both the Women and the Men. In 2017, she helped lead the Men’s team to a MEAC Championship. On the Women’s team, she has been named Conference Coach of the Year and won three regular season southern division titles.  

“My dad definitely was my biggest influence on becoming a tennis coach,” Coach Nikki said. “I have been coaching tennis since I was 14 years old at my dad’s tennis camp and I kind of just fell into the college level.” Coaching both the Men’s and Women’s Coach Nikki has been making an impact on all her players. “The one thing I make sure to teach all my players it to stay positive, because we can be very hard on ourselves as tennis players.”  

Unfortunately, FAMU shut down its Men’s program when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but Coach Nikki is still making a massive impact on her ladies. “I am super proud to be here and helping my ladies achieve their goals on and off the courts.” In 2023, she led the ladies to a second-place finish at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) National Tennis Championships. 

Why are HBCU’s and Black History Important to Tennis? 

Coach Nikkie is extremely proud to be coach at FAMU and playing a role in the change for equality and recognition. “I am a product of HBCU culture,” she said. “It’s a blessing to be able to coach at my alma mater, the same place that shaped me as a person and now having the opportunity to pour into inspiring young minds and assist them along in the journey of life.” 

With the rich history of black tennis, especially at HBCU’s, Coach Nikki knows it is essential that we remember all the sacrifices African Americans have made both for tennis and for social justice. “To be anchored in our past, rooted in our resolve, gives us direction and helps to guide us towards a better future.” 

While the world continues to strive for equality for all, Coach Nikki finds it important for society to embrace everyone’s history. “Acknowledging other cultures shows a level of respect and appreciation of the differences which leads toward progress of all cultures,” she said. ““To achieve this, we need to become more proactive in increasing the visibility and promoting engagement to enhance the appeal in the minority communities. This can be achieved by offering tennis programs that foster inclusion in the sport.” 

USTA Florida recently relaunched its AMPLIFY initiative, to engage and empower black voices throughout the Florida tennis community, and Coach Nikki believes this is the right step in addressing inequality. “I think it was a good start toward setting a foundation by introducing programs like AMPLIFY into diverse communities. The more that children are exposed to tennis the greater the possibilities for their continued involvement in the sport.” 

In her life, whether coaching or being a community leader, Coach Nikki shares a powerful message with everyone she comes across. “You can accomplish more when we are unified and not divided.” 

Coach Nikki is making a lasting impact not only on the athletes at FAMU but her community in Tallahassee. Learn more about Coach Nikki on our Here to Serve Podcast, where she joins Laura Bowen and George Henry to talk about the HBCUs in Florida and much more. 

Here to Serve Podcast