I interviewed Tennis Coach, Coach Kevin!

Kate: I’m here today with Coach Kevin, who’s the head coach for girls and boys tennis at Padua. What led you to coaching tennis?

Coach Kevin: I played tennis in high school and then coached soccer for a little while. Then I got the boys tennis coaching job and ended up taking over for the girls team.

Kate: What sports did you play at Padua, and which was your favorite?

Coach Kevin: I played soccer and tennis. No offense to tennis but soccer was my favorite because I started playing when I was four and that was my whole childhood.

Kate: What’s the outlook for Padua tennis over the next few years? Do you see it growing, staying the same, or getting smaller?

Coach Kevin: Growing. Our goal in the end, is to win conference and have a couple of district qualifiers, maybe some state qualifiers as well.

Kate: How do you plan to continue to grow the program? What are some missing pieces we need?

Coach Kevin: I plan to keep bringing girls in that have tennis experience from the past and to continue to raise our skill level. I think we don’t have many missing pieces, we just need to keep working year round to perfect our craft.

Kate: Does it take a different approach to coaching Girls and Boys Tennis? Are there different strategies in girls versus boys?

Coach Kevin: To be honest there aren’t too many different strategies between them, because in the end it’s just tennis, but just the way I explain and teach the game to them both is a little different. They’re both equally great. Everyone’s fantastic.

Kate: Who are some promising underclassmen on both the girls and the boys teams?

Coach Kevin: Eliana, she’s a very good freshman and then Melanie too- she’s a sophomore. Got a lot of promising sophomores on the boys team too like Jack and Jacob.

Kate: What is one quality that you look for in players when choosing teams and deciding varsity and JV?

Coach Kevin: Just a team-friendly player who cares about everybody, cares about their teammates, works hard every single day and comes ready to work everyday, for practice and for matches as well.

Kate: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from a coach?

Coach Kevin: The best piece of advice that I’ve gotten is that you can never stop learning and improving your skills.

Kate: What pro tennis player has had the biggest impact on tennis today and why?

Coach Kevin: Novak Djokovic- Just by everything he has accomplished in the game of tennis. By winning every major and now a gold medal. He’s accomplished everything.

Kate: What do you think of pickleball?

Coach Kevin: Fun sport, definitely too many courts, but it is what it is. I wish they kept the tennis courts. Pickleball’s starting to take over. Could get real ugly quick.

Kate: What’s it like having your dad as your boss?

Coach Kevin: It’s funny, but it’s fun. I get to see him every day but yeah, it’s pretty fun.

Kate: Okay, perfect. Thanks so much for coming and taking this interview and good luck this season! To our readers, comment with any Padua coaches you’d like to hear from this year! And as always…GO BRUINS!!!