Photo taken by Jennifer Devereaux
by Jennifer Devereaux
staff writer
Tennis coach Reggie Day has both an impressive back ground as a coach and player. Day started playing tennis in the summer of 1962, right before his freshman year in high school. He played all throughout high school at Archbishop Stetinac in White Plains, New York. Following this he went on to play in college at Notre Dame.
Day first coached in 1970 at Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee. Following this he moved to Lousiana where he coached at Briarfield University in Lake Providence. During this time his girls team won the private school Southern Championship.
Day then moved to Pennsylvania, coached for Radnor High School for a year and then went on to coach at Malvern Prep for 11 years. Finally he coached at Haverford College for a year and then came to Cabrini in the fall of 1988. He has remained here ever since.
In addition to coaching at various schools, Day has also been the tennis pro for the Lake Providence Country Club in Lake Providence, Lousiana, the Plymouth Swim Club in Plymouth Meeting and the Conestoga Swim Club. However, Day no longer plays tennis pro’s. He said “I quit tennis proing because it put too much of a restraint on my own ability to play.”
Day not only has a great record as a coach but also as a player. Some of his playing achievements include being a ranked player in the Southern Tennis association of the USTA as well as being ranked in the Philadelphia and Middle states section of the USTA.
He has been ranked highly in the Middle States section in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s age groups. In fact, he was ranked NO. 2 in the men’s 40’s and as recent as 1999 he ranked No.1 in the Philadelphia men’s 50 and over division. Moreover, in the year 2000 he received the Sportsmanship Award in the Philadelphia District of Middle states seniors division.
Along with all these personal triumphs Day has also had many successes in coaching. “Over the years I’ve had a couple of milestones. I’ve gotten 200 wins at Cabrini and overall I’ve gotten about 370 wins in my career,” said Day. He coached the first year Cabrini became part of the NCAA. He has had 11 out of 12 winning seasons with the women and won two PAC championships with the men, in 1994 and 2000.
Besides all of these many achievements, he has also worked with several summer camps teaching junior tennis. Also, he has worked on tennis programs with the USTA and in addition, has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia division of Middle states for the USTA for the last five years.
Day’s favorite things about coaching are that it helps to keep him young, it helps kids develop in a very positive way and it helps keep him in shape. Day was lead to coaching as the result of being a teacher. When he first started teaching the school wanted him to work with an extra curricular activity. He thought it was appropriate to use his talent to help students develop skills.
Although Day takes tennis very seriously he also feels that students are not in school to play sports but to be a student and he hopes that playing sports would help to enhance a student’s education. In spite of Day’s successes, he has a humble attitude. He said “a coach is no better than his players” and he makes it clear that as a coach he never plays a single point in the match.
Day’s goals include winning another PAC championship with the men and winning a PAC championship with the women who have come as close as runner-up. He’s also looking forward to getting his 400 win as a coach.
Day is happy at Cabrini. He said, “I can honestly say my most enjoyable coaching years have been at Cabrini. All the coaches are great people, I’ve had a lot of support from Dr. Iadarola and coach Ziek and it’s really neat how the faculty ask how students are doing.”
Day is obviously valued by his players. Men’s team co-captain, senior Dan McConnell said about Day, “He has good experience, helps us out a lot, always wants the best for us and he’s always willing to work one on one with you on things you need help on.”
