Feature Friday: Frankland's Journey to West Point

Feature Friday highlights the tremendous personal stories our coaches and cadet-athletes have to share on a weekly basis. Each Friday, a new feature story will be prominently highlighted on GoArmyWestPoint.com. The features will include multi-media pieces, as well as written stories by media outlets and the Army West Point athletic communications staff.

Passion and a desire to improve is what fuels most athletes and drives them to success. For Leslie Frankland, that passion and drive translates not only into tennis, but being a cadet at the United States Military Academy and reaching her goals, even from thousands of miles away.

Now in her second year at the Academy, Frankland took a less than conventional pass to join the Long Gray Line. With a lineage of West Point graduates in her family, she knew her goal from an early age and set along a path to success.

Frankland's father, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Wally Frankland (USMA '77), and grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Walter Frankland, Jr. (USMA '46) inspired her early interest in the Academy, and when the family relocated to Paris prior to her second birthday, she was quickly immersed in the French culture, but never let go of her roots.

"When I was 12 I figured out that I wanted to be in the army," Frankland said. "My dad didn't really talk about West Point or the army too much so he definitely didn't push it on me, but I thought it would be such an honor. Also, being overseas for so long I wanted to really be American. What better way to come back."

Frankland attended French school for four years before transferring to the International School of Paris, which presented her the opportunity to travel and explore the world from an early age.

"I got the opportunity to travel all over France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands," she said. "School trips were to England, Biarritz and visited castles all over France."

Despite the distance from the United States, Frankland managed to stay connected to her beginnings. Summers were spent with family, where she quickly developed a love for tennis. While high school sports aren't as developed and touted in France as they are in the United States, her passion translated into competitions with clubs in the Paris area.

Frankland tested out other sports, dabbling with soccer, golf and swimming, but chose to stick with tennis in her later years of high school. She joined The Tennis Club of Paris, a facility that attracts international professional athletes.

The desire to attend West Point presented another opportunity; to play Division I tennis at the school of her dreams. Frankland reached out to head coach Paul Peck and found her way onto one of the strongest groups in the Patriot League.

"I wanted to come to West Point no matter what," she said. "Tennis is the icing on the cake. I love tennis and it would be sad to not be able to play, but I wanted to come here over anything. I love being on the team here and it's an honor to be with these amazing players. When I get to play, great, otherwise I love just being able to practice and be with them."

In addition to tennis, Frankland has immersed herself in life at the Academy. She has made an effort to take advantage of every opportunity afforded to her by the Academy, getting involved with her company, attending Airborne school and utilizing her summers to advance her military career.

"I'm really trying to take advantage of everything I can," Frankland added. "Who knows what I'll be doing in the future. My job might not need me to be airborne qualified, but it's really great to have that under my belt already. Going to Fort Benning and being with all of the enlisted soldiers and officers and being in a real army post environment was really eye opening. The real army is so different from West Point and I got a lot out of it."

While the demands of West Point and her desire to employ her summers for military development mean less time spent on leave with family and friends, her time spent in Paris have helped her prepare for time away.

"I don't have siblings so I'm really close with my cousins, so it was always really hard to leave them at the end of the summer, knowing that I had to go back to school and not see them for 10 months," she said.

While the rigorous 47-month West Point experience makes maintaining a social life a challenge, the friendships developed amongst her tennis teammates help keep the sophomore cheerful and focused.

"I'm really close with my two classmates," she laughed. "We've gone through a lot and we're really close so it's great to have been able to go through everything with them. We went through Buckner together and we were all in the same company, which was a great experience, being away from here and not in the tennis environment, it's a great way to learn a lot about each other. Just being at West Point is so different from any other team we would be on because you don't have all of these other requirements. It's hard sometimes but we're all really supportive of each other."

Though her transition into life at West Point has been smooth, her time in Paris wasn't the only stop along the way in her journey to the Academy. Frankland spent a year at Marion Military Institute following her graduation from high school. While the decision to attend prep school wasn't her first choice, the experience proved useful in allowing her time to adjust to life back in the United States and preparing her for the demands of the United States Military Academy.

Upon visiting West Point in her freshman and junior years of high school, she was afforded the ability to network with members of the Association of Graduates, who presented her with a scholarship to study at Marion. She joined 25 fellow classmates at the Alabama preparatory school who spent a year developing their skills in training for West Point.

"Going from Paris to Alabama was a culture shock, but I was focused on this and this was my goal, if it was going to get me here then I was going to do it," she laughed. "It was a blessing in disguise. It definitely prepared me for here both academically and militarily."

While the future is still wide open for Frankland, she already has goals in sight, with plans to branch field artillery and make a career in the army.

"As of now, I want to have a career in the army," she said. "My dad and granddad both retired after 20 years, so I'm thinking at least that, probably more to be honest. You never know."

Click here to read previous Feature Friday stories.

Army West Point Athletics

Feature Friday: Frankland's Journey to West Point

Players Mentioned

Leslie Frankland

Related Videos