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Sports
The Clarion \ August 21,2019
Coach William Jones
joins BC tennis family
By Carmen Boone
Copy Editor
The BC athletic program has hired a new tennis head coach. William
Jones is excited to be the head of the BC tennis program.
Jones is from Bristol, Va. and graduated from Virginia High School. He
later majored in Sports Management and got his masters in Community
and Organizational Leadership from Emory and Henry College. Following
this, he moved to Yuma, Ariz. for a year but then decided to live in
Arlington, Va. for about six years, teaching tennis. After that, he coached
college tennis for two years in Bethany, W.Va.
Jones started playing tennis when he was about four years old. At the
age of nine, he began playing in USTA tournaments in Tennessee, North
Carolina and South Carolina. It was during this time that he realized he
wanted to teach tennis for a living.
After that, he went to several tennis camps every summer and wrote
down drills and practice techniques. His mother also videotaped all of
his tennis matches so he would have access to video analysis and practice
using that.
In college, Jones got his USPTA (United States Professional Tennis
Association) and USPTR (United States Professional Tennis Registry)
Tennis Teaching Certifications, and has been coaching tennis ever since.
His coaching career started with boy’s tennis at Abingdon High School in
Virginia. Following that, he went back to Emory and Henry College to take
on the position of Assistant Coach for men’s and women’s tennis. After
that he moved to the DC area and taught tennis for six years in Potomac
and Damestown, Md. Before taking this position at Brevard, he coached
at Bethany College for two years.
Jones has several reasons for choosing Brevard as his new home. The
biggest reason is that it’s close to where he’s from and where he grew up
playing junior tennis. “I really liked what I saw not only about the tennis
facilities, but the tennis program and college as well,” Jones said. The third
reason he gave was that Brevard is similar to colleges he has previously
attended and coached at, so he knew he would be good at helping with
the transition to Division III tennis.
“Brevard is just a really nice area. [...] Brevard has really made a name
for itself and all of its attractions as well. There are a lot of different things
to do and I believe it's a great setting for a college student-athlete. You
really don't get a setting like Brevard at too many other colleges,” Jones
said. He is also very happy with all the support he has already seen in the
past two weeks for the tennis program.
Jones says he plans on picking up right where the program left off last
year. “I really think that Coach Evan did a fantastic job with the tennis
program in general and I look forward to building on top of the foundation
that he had previously set here at Brevard,” he said. He doesn’t want to
make many changes, except for adding his own twist to the successful
program we already have.
He is very excited to give back to the sport that has given him so much.
Jones is also excited about being able to coach young men and women
who love the same game he loves, as well as introducing others to tennis,
a sport they can play for the rest of their lives.
Since he decided to coach at Brevard, the athletic staff, the tennis
community and some friends who know the area have all been very helpful
to him. “I have heard nothing but great things, so I am very excited and
blessed to be a part of such a pretty area and the brevard family,” said Jones.
Jones is very excited for this year’s season. He thinks the ladies team
will have another great year with lots of experienced players returning
and three new freshmen coming in to fill the void from last year’s seniors.
The men’s team will have six freshmen coming in to fill in the available
spots from the seniors that graduated and to join the men returning from
last year. Jones says he is very excited to get started after speaking to all the
players and “learning about the passion they have for the game of tennis.”
Jones would also like to say the following to the students, faculty,
staff and community of Brevard: “Anyone interested in learning to play
the game of tennis feel free to stop by or email me. Once I get settled, I
want to do a few clinics for the students, staff, faculty and community
members,” Jones said.
“Also, if there are any students interested in playing tennis or just
learning a sport that they can play for the rest of their lives, please email
me atjoneswb@brevard.edu. 'We also want to invite E’VERYONE to
our matches. We only have one rule that we ask... we ask for everyone
to be as loud and vocal as possible!!! College Tennis is no longer a quiet
spectator sport. So the more energy we can have from our fans for home
and away matches the better!”
William Jones