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ITA Announces Div. I National Coaches of the Year

SKILLMAN, N.J. — The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced the Wilson/ITA National Coaches of the Year for NCAA Division I tennis. Peter Smith of Southern California was awarded the honor as the top men’s head coach while North Carolina’s Brian Kalbas was the recipient for the women.

Wilson, the Official Tennis Racquet Company, Tennis Ball and Stringing Accessory Company of the ITA, has been the ITA’s title sponsor of the ITA Coach of the Year since the awards’ inception in 1973.

In addition, Wilson serves as the title sponsor for the ITA National Promoter of the Year awards, which presents a wonderful opportunity for students to be recognized for their promotional efforts of their varsity tennis programs by receiving summer intern positions with Wilson Sporting Goods.

“We are proud of this year’s award recipients and their excellence in tennis. Wilson is appreciative of all they do for the athletes they work with every day and their contributions to our industry and college tennis,” says Michael Wallace, Director of US Promotions for Wilson Sporting Goods Co.

Peter Smith, the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, guided the defending NCAA Champions to a 25-3 overall record as the Trojans pin up their first back-to-back NCAA titles since 1993-94. The 2010 crown marks USC’s 18th all-time NCAA men’s tennis title, the most in NCAA history. Smith is the only men’s tennis coach ever to lead four different men’s programs to national top-25 rankings and is one of only two coaches to guide three different schools to the NCAA quarterfinals and top-5 national rankings (USC, Pepperdine and Fresno State).

Brian Kalbas led UNC to one of the most successful seasons in program history. The Tar Heels spent five weeks ranked No. 1 in the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings, made the finals of the ITA Women’s Team Indoor Championship andcompleted the first 11-0 regular season in ACC history. For Kalbas, the award is his sixth career Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year honor and his second since coming to Chapel Hill. The seventh year head coach was also selected as the ITA National Coach of the Year in 1998 while at William & Mary.

Wilson/ITA National Division I Coaches of the Year:

As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is compromised of nearly 1,700 men’s and women’s varsity coaches representing over 1,200 institutions, administers numerous regional and national championships and the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings for over 15,000 college varsity student-athletes at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA web site is itatennis.com.

Wilson Racquet Sports is a division of Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sports equipment and owned by Amer Sports. Wilson designs, manufactures and distributes sporting goods throughout the world and focuses on making technologically advanced products which help players of all levels perform better. Wilson’s core sport categories include: Football, Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Soccer, Youth Sports, Uniforms/Apparel, Golf, Footwear and Racquet Sports (Tennis, Racquetball, Squash, Badminton and Platform Tennis). For more information, visit wilson.com.

Posted on June 17, 2010
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