Net Gain: Kathy Heimbuch Heckert Caldwell Loved the Balance Hillsdale College Offered
Written by Doug Goodnough
As a nationally ranked high school tennis player, Kathy Heimbuch Heckert Caldwell, ’91, had many college options. In fact, she was looking at several large NCAA Division I tennis programs when her father suggested shifting her focus a bit.
“He said, ‘Why don’t we take a look at some smaller schools? Let’s take a look at Hillsdale,’” she recalled.
Apparently one look is all that it took. Spurning several big-time programs, Kathy accepted a scholarship and signed with Hillsdale College. Excelling in both singles and doubles, the 1988 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year called her Hillsdale experience “fantastic.”
“When I came on campus, I fell in love with it,” said Kathy, an elementary education major.
She became one of the standouts on a program that annually competed for conference titles. In fact, the Chargers finished second place in the GLIAC three out of her four years under then-head coach Alice Hullhorst.
After graduating from Hillsdale, she moved to southern Florida. Combining her love for teaching and tennis, she became certified as a U.S. Professional Tennis Association pro. She was the head professional and director of tennis at the Club at Western Hills in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, for more than a decade.
“I had such a love of tennis, so there isn’t a better place to teach tennis,” she said of the Miami area.
After spending long days on the court, she eventually took her career in a different direction. She worked as a personal trainer, then spent five years as an interior decorator. Currently she is into pottery and ceramics, and enjoys traveling the world with her husband, Bob, a former Army Ranger who is the owner of a defense company. They also work with giant breed dog rescues, and have “almost 800 pounds of dog living with us,” said Kathy, who currently resides in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.
A member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, she said Hillsdale allowed her to balance athletics, academics, and the social side perfectly.
“That’s one of the best parts of the school—its balance,” she said. “When you graduate, you are a well-rounded person.”
She said she is pleased to see how the Hillsdale women’s tennis program has progressed.
“The program has really taken off,” Kathy said. “It’s amazing what they’ve done with it. The commitment from the school to the program is fantastic. I’m just really proud to be a part of that program.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in May 2023