By Bill Sheehan
From the time she was a toddler, Eira Tobrand has exhibited a fearless streak. The Cal State Fullerton tennis player, who grew up outside Gothenburg, Sweden, showed little caution on her first day on downhill skis.
"We visited a ski resort in Norway, and Eira was barely 3 years old," said her father Bengt. "I carried her up a small slope, but she pointed to a chair lift and said, 'I want to go there.' After we rode the lift, I took her hand at the top. But she pushed me away and tried to ski down the mountain by herself, even though she didn't know how to turn."
Tobrand, whose name is pronounced AY-rah toe-BRAUND, has continued to blaze her own way. Determined to attend college overseas, she circulated a personal tennis workout video and landed an athletic scholarship to Southern Utah University. A year later, she transferred to Cal State Fullerton.
A fifth-year senior, Tobrand has become the first Fullerton student-athlete to participate in Titan Capital Management, or TCM. In the demanding, year-long program, which is operated by the school's College of Business and Economics' Finance Department, students manage investment portfolios using real money. They also participate in investment research competitions with finance students from other universities.
The 24-year-old Tobrand, who is in her fourth year on the Fullerton tennis team, spends an average of 15 hours a week on TCM projects. She will graduate in May with degrees in economics and business administration with a concentration in finance.
"Eira is a truly gifted student-athlete. To handle the rigors of Division 1 tennis and academics while participating in the rigorous finance projects and competitions is truly exceptional," said Kelly Ko, a Cal State Fullerton finance professor and TCM's director of equity.
Tobrand is a dedicated competitor who hates to lose, said Ellie Edles Williams, the school's interim tennis head coach. "Eira has a strong work ethic. She would stay after practice and play all day on the court if I let her."
Titans face Long Beach State on Friday
The Titans, who are 13-4 overall and 3-2 in Big West Conference play, travel to Long Beach State for a tennis match Friday at 2 p.m.
Edles Williams said she inherited "a really solid program" from former head coach Dianne Matias, who left to become director of junior tennis position with the U.S. Tennis Association. But the new coach also credited team captains Tobrand and senior YuSeung Suh of Seoul for reinforcing the program's culture and tradition. "Their leadership has been extremely instrumental to our success."
Eira Tobrand plays singles and doubles for Cal State Fullerton and is a team captain. Photo by Bill Sheehan
The 5-foot-11 Tobrand is currently playing No. 4 singles. She is 9-4 overall and 2-1 conference this season. "My motivation is to play No. 1 in singles, but it's fun just to play wherever I can to help the team," she said.
Her game has improved since last fall, Edles Williams said. "Eira is more and more willing to come up and win a point at the net. And there's been a huge improvement in her doubles game."
In mid-March, Tobrand was named the Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week after going 3-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles against Toledo, Youngstown State, and Utah State.
Edles Williams, who spent the last two years as a Cal Poly assistant coach, has implemented some strong training routines, Tobrand said. "The practices have been harder with more intensity. Coach Ellie has done an amazing job of pushing the team."
She also praised assistant coach Alexis Valenzuela and volunteer assistant Mike Edles, who is Edles Williams' father. He coached UC Irvine to three NCAA tournament berths in a 20-year career there. "I loved the old staff, and I love the new staff," said Tobrand.
Doubles partners got off to a rough start
Tobrand and her doubles partner, Camila Garcia, got off to a bumpy start when they were first teamed up at the start of the 2018-19 season. Their pairing didn't last long.
"We got a little rowdy with each other and argued a bit. I think we were too similar," said Tobrand. "Each of us was kind of goofy," said Garcia, who hails from Lisbon.
The new coaches tried different doubles teams before reuniting Tobrand and Garcia in January. "They wanted to see if we worked well together. We did," said Garcia, a left-handed junior.
They are 9-4 overall in doubles this season, with a 3-2 record in Big West play. "I absolutely love playing with Camila. She brings a lot of positive energy," said Tobrand. "We are close on and off the court, but we still like to argue (laughs)."
Garcia, who plays the deuce (right) side in doubles, said they both have grown up a bit. In fact, they're now rooming together. "We're more focused now and work together super-well. Eira is like a big sister. She is not afraid to be honest if I do something wrong.
"Eira has a lot of tools and is an all-court player. She has a big serve, solid groundstrokes, comes to the net and her backhand is one of the best I have seen. Her forehand is more funky but good with a lot of spin," said Garcia. "And she is so busy off the court. I don't know how she does it."
Essays, interviews, boot camps and workshops
Tobrand's connection with Titan Capital Management began last spring with a selection process that included a written essay, analytical-skills assessments, the development and defense of a company research report and panel interviews. In the summer, she 14 other TCM students – all seniors -- participated in boot camps and workshops to build the skills necessary to successfully invest the $3.3 million portfolios under the stewardship of the Titan Management program.
A 10-year-old Eira Tobrand practices her tennis swing.
TCM students manage an equity portfolio, a fixed-income portfolio or a President's Scholars portfolio, the latter a mix of both equity and fixed income. This school year, the TCM students are responsible for $3.3 million in overall assets. There is roughly $2.4 million in the equity portfolio, $735,000 in the fixed-income, and $220,000 in the President's Scholars portfolio. Profits from the President's Scholars portfolio are used to pay the tuition and fees for one President's Scholar each year.
In November, Tobrand and other investment students participating in the Cal State Fullerton Student Management Investment Fund, or SMIF, finished second in the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Orange County, or CFAOC competition. The event featured student teams from local universities competing for the opportunity to manage about $100,000 of the CFAOC's real-world financial portfolios.
Tobrand and three other TCM students took top honors in the CFA Los Angeles region chapter's Investment Research Competition. The contest challenges students to research, analyze and value a publicly traded company, and they present their findings to a panel of judges, who are industry professionals. Students are evaluated on their report writing, presentation skills and the quality of their research.
Third consecutive win for Fullerton students
It was the third consecutive victory for Fullerton's TCM students. They defeated teams from UCLA, Claremont Graduate University and four other universities. "It was a four-person team, and without Eira, we would have been seriously challenged to win the competition. Every person's contribution is huge," said Ko, the team's finance faculty advisor.
"I didn't expect the group of TCM students to be so amazing and the professors to be so willing to teach us," said Tobrand, who is a fixed-income portfolio manager this semester. "The program is very work-focused. When I was isolating with Covid in January, I spent 40-50 hours a week reading books and reports."
Tobrand had initially planned to study engineering. But she was unable to transfer some of her Southern Utah credits to Cal State Fullerton and switched to economics and finance.
Named Freshman of the Year for the Big Sky Conference, Tobrand enjoyed her Southern Utah's teammates and coaches. But she wanted a change from the geographic isolation and harsh weather of Cedar City, which is 250 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Tobrand's decision to leave was a prescient one. Southern Utah's men's and women's tennis programs haven't restarted since the pandemic's onset.
As a sophomore at Fullerton, Tobrand went 17-12 in singles and 10-13 in doubles. She was 13-7 and 7-10 as a junior before the pandemic ended competition. She finished last season 8-8 and 8-9 and was named All-Big West Second Team in doubles and Honorable Mention in singles.
A turning point after 7-0 loss in Hawaii
This season, the Titans suffered their first Big West defeat Feb. 26 when they were swept 7-0 by the University of Hawaii. The team rededicated itself after that setback, Tobrand said.
"I don't necessarily think that we played badly in Hawaii. It was a combination of different factors. But we told ourselves that we can get tired and give up, or we can keep pushing to do better. We chose the latter."
The Titans then reeled off eight straight wins before losing Saturday at UC Davis. They have six more matches before the Big West Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego on April 28-30.
"We have a shot to win the championship," said Tobrand, who swings a Yonnex VCORE 100 racquet. "Our team is super-competitive, and everyone is playing well."
Eira Tobrand played four sports in high school, including floorball, a type of indoor hockey.
Tobrand's first name is derived from the Norse goddess Eir. She grew up in Hovas, eight miles south of Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city.
She took up tennis at age 5 and started to play competitively at 9. "Eira always liked to hit the ball very hard," said her father, Bengt, who was trained as an engineer and operates a printing and real estate company. "At a tennis camp in Barcelona, the instructor pointed out that her attacks would be more effective if she became more tactical. Once she controlled her hitting, she was able to compete at a high level in her age groups."
As a high school freshman at Donnergymnasiet, she competed in tennis, downhill skiing, soccer and floorball, a type of indoor hockey using sticks and a ball. Tobrand concentrated on tennis and floorball for the next three years. She also swims and windsurfs, and has dabbled in climbing, golf and other sports.
During summers, she worked at supermarkets and had a job at a hospice center. "It was an interesting experience and very emotionally draining," said Tobrand, who was on the staff for four months. "I gained a huge respect for people working in that field – they were so nice and positive in a challenging environment. And I learned the importance of taking responsibility and being attentive to details."
Her parents, Bengt and Susanne Lotzke, are also athletes. Bengt enjoys windsurfing, kite surfing, skiing and tennis. Susanne, who works in the publishing sector, enjoys horse riding and badminton. Her younger brother, Vidar, an engineering student, likes skiing and tennis. They all play paddle tennis too.
Susanne visited Tobrand in California during Thanksgiving break in 2018, and they took a mother-daughter road trip to San Francisco along Highway 1. Her brother visited three years ago, and they both surfed at Huntington Beach. Bengt will make his first trip to California next month for Tobrand's graduation.
"I'm so very excited to have the full family here at one time," she said.
A look at cultural differences
Tobrand reflected on the cultural differences between the Swedes and Americans. "Everyone here is so outgoing and friendly with people, even those they don't know. In Sweden, people are more reserved, but they talk more openly and have deeper discussions on personal matters."
She is deciding whether to seek an Optical Practical Training visa and work in the U.S. for a year or take the summer off and find a job this fall.
"I've been going to college for five straight years, so I'd like to take a break at some point," said Tobrand, who plans to eventually get a master's in sustainable finance.
She envisions a career in asset or wealth management and would like to work in Europe's financial capitals. "I know at some point I want to move back to Sweden. That's where I want to build my life."
Tobrand is already being asked for stock tips from her father and friends. "I'm scared of giving advice," she said, laughing. "It's going to take a while before I know what I'm doing. Come back and ask me in a couple years when I will be confident in my research."
— Titans Tennis (@FullertonWTEN) April 6, 2022