Reggie Day, head coach of men’s and women’s tennis, knows that he is not much in the world of collegiate tennis without his players.
Although he is a respected coach with nearly 33 years of experience scattered throughout the United States, Day said, “I don’t play a single point of the matches out there. I owe everything I have, every reward I’ve received, to my players. They win the games.”
Throughout the past year, Day has received three Coach of the Year awards.
Last year, after the men’s team earned a second straight Pennsylvania Athletic Conference championship, Day was awarded PAC coach of the year. “Because my men won the PAC, I won too last year. The players earned that one,” Day said.
This past fall, Day and the women’s team earned the 400th career victory in Day’s career with a win against Villa Saint Julie. The 400 wins include wins as a high school coach and head coach of the Haverford College women’s team, among other victories. Rewarded for his time and effort put in as a longtime tennis coach, Day was honored by being named United States Tennis Association Middle States Philadelphia Area Coach of the Year.
“Someone submitted my name to USTA in Middle States, and I won,” Day said.
One of six coaches in the Middle States region to earn Coach of the Year last year, Day was automatically submitted to Middle States, which includes West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, parts of Maryland and the southern region of New York. Day went on to win Coach of the Year for the entire Middle States region, which means that he is now in the hunt for USTA Coach of the Year. That award would name him the best tennis coach in the United States.
“This has all been a very humbling experience; a real honor,” Day said. “I have been coaching for a while, and I still believe that a satisfied coach never knows then his contract expires. I’m very happy with my situation. But I’m a realist too. There is no way I will win USTA Coach of the Year.”
Still managing modesty, Day is coming off of a winning season with the women’s team last fall and is currently coaching the men, who are the favorites to win the PAC Championship for the third year in a row.
