By James Williams | Features Editor

Jordan Gobatie, the No. 1 tennis player on the Riverside City College team will continue his career at Northern Arizona University.

Gobatie played the last two seasons or the Tigers’ tennis team.

After taking a visit in December, he decided it was the school he wanted to attend.

Aside from the coaching staff and the facilities, one of Gobatie’s reasons for his decision was to stay as close as possible, to take care of his family.

“To be honest I didn’t even pursue any other avenue once I was offered the scholarship,” he said. “Other schools contacted me but they were all too far away from California.”

Gobatie finished his RCC career by making it all the way to the semifinals of the state singles and doubles tournament.

According to head coach Jim Elton, the RCC men’s tennis team put together one of its best seasons, as Gobatie finished as conference player of the year and the team finished as Orange Empire Conference champions and a So Cal Team Semifinalist.

“Coach Elton really helped my game mentality and really kept me grounded at many points,” Gobatie said. “I can definitely be a loose cannon at times on the tennis court but (coach) keeps me in check; he makes sure I don’t stray off the road too far.”

Gobatie was thankful to have had Elton as his head coach over the past two years.

“Even though I do not see it at first, he really looks out for me,” he said. “Looking back at it I couldn’t have asked for a better coach.”

He finished his career by making it all the way to the semifinals of the state singles and doubles tournament. Gobatie’s partner for doubles was Danny Garcia. Gobatie plans to set high expectations for himself as he moves on to Northern Arizona.

“All I know is that I am going to fight and grind until I can reach to top spot,” he explained. “I have high expectations for myself and I know I can accomplish them.”