Taking over coaching duties for a team with four consecutive state championships is a daunting task, but first year girls tennis coach Chris Scott said he isn’t afraid of sky-high expectations.
“I’m good friends with [former coaches] Nina Bramhall and Liz Roberts. I really admire what they did,” he said. “It may be that stepping into their shoes felt like mission impossible for some folks, but I’m very happy to be doing it.”
Though he’s never coached tennis, or any other sport, Mr. Scott has been heavily involved in tennis instruction on the Island for years as board president of Vineyard Youth Tennis. He called VYT a “huge gift” for kids on the Island and credited it with much of the recent success of the high school’s tennis program.
He said that most of the girls on this year’s squad got their start at VYT, including his daughter Victoria Scott, who is number two on the team’s singles lineup.
“I used to play a lot with Victoria but after she got to be about 13, I couldn’t keep up,” he said.
On the court, Mr. Scott said he embraces the philosophy of ignoring expectations and staying focused on the job at hand.
“The elephant in the room is the state championships. We talked about it once on the first day and I said this is the last time we’re going to talk about that. The most important match of our season is the next match.”
Mr. Scott has enlisted the help of Island tennis professionals Paul Pertile and Joe Holland, and so far the team is undefeated as it heads into today’s away match against Nantucket. The team plays at home again on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Monomoy Regional High School.
Overall, Mr. Scott said he’s having a blast coaching.
“I’m glad to have the opportunity to do it. Quite honestly, I’m really enjoying doing this.”
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