Aug. 18, 2008

Five Questions With....Alex Bucewicz

1. First, off, where are we sending this email list of questions to?

I am married (to former women's tennis player Marlene Dirnstorfer) and living in Australia at the moment, however Marlene and I will be making a move to Austria (Dirnstorfer's home country) in September.

2. What have you been doing back in Australia and what are the plans for the move to Austria?

Pretty much with tennis, I just play pennant on the weekends. I have been playing grade 1 in Victoria's pennant league. In 2007 we made the final of our section (there are 3 sections in our grade, each consisting of 8 teams). My record has been quite consistent throughout the three years of competition. I have had more success really in life outside of sport the last three years. Marlene and I got married in her home country of Austria on July 21st, 2007, and went on our honeymoon to New Zealand in February of this year. We also just recently celebrated our first anniversary.

As for work, after first returning to Australia, I worked as a personal trainer for a small studio for about 18 months where I worked my way into an assistant manager role. As part of that role I worked between two of the company's three studios. Eventually I grew tired of the early mornings and late nights and started a job working in the retail industry, where I still am today. I am currently a trainee manager for Australia's largest growing retail liquor company called Dan Murphy's. I have been here for about 16 months and been a trainee since September of 2007. I enjoy working there, but the next chapter of my life is about to begin. Marlene and I have decided to relocate to Austria to hopefully start and raise a family. The other great thing is that the future is uncertain. I don't have a job lined up (in Austria), so I see this as a great new challenge for me. I have a few options, so we just have to wait and see.

Lastly, I have also been playing aussie rules football for 2 out of the last 3 seasons. I am still yet to play finals football both with my current club and my former club, but that has been more than made up as I get to take the field and enjoy playing alongside my mates each weekend.

3. So what advice would you give to student-athletes currently at the university regarding planning for a life after college sports?  

The best advice I can give is to just take life one step at a time. If I told someone before I started college that I would come out with a degree, a wife and a distinguished tennis career, those who know me would have laughed. You never know what challenges lie ahead once you have finished school, so you make the most of the opportunities that are presented to you. As my father used to tell me when I was growing up, "if you are going to do something, do it to 100% of your capability or don't bother doing it at all.

4. You were part of a run of tennis players from Australia on the Tiger roster for a while. Do you keep in touch with any of your former teammates?

I try to stay in touch with the boys as often as possible. Australia is a large country and being that I was the only one from Melbourne it's sometimes hard to visit all the time. Having said that, both Alex Jago and Luke Campbell came down to Melbourne for this year's Australian Open grand slam and it was great to catch up. Also Marlene and I have been up to Sydney a couple of times to visit Nathan, Ben and Richard. It's far and few between, but we try to stay in touch as much as possible. The real challenge lies when Marlene and I head to Austria.

5. How often do you follow the Tigers since you live more than a few time zones away?

 I follow the tigers constantly. I am always on the internet looking up gotigergo.com to check out the latest results and player movement. I have kept in touch with both of my former coaches in Coach Chamberlain and Coach Goebel via phone and email conversations. I also use my facebook page, so although I have left the Tiger tennis team, the Tigers have never left me.