Bethpage Park Hosts Annual High School Coaches Workshop

Bethpage Park Tennis Center in Farmingdale, N.Y. held its ninth annual High School Coaches Workshop on Sunday, bringing together high school coaches and even some players from Long Island for an afternoon of drills, hitting sessions and tutorials.

The clinic included some of the top players from the Bethpage Park facility as well as local high school players, and combined with the coaches and instructors, provided a great way for all involved to learn from each other.

It began with the coaches hitting on court with each other and Bethpage Park Tennis Center co-owners and co-tennis directors Keith Kambourian and Steve Kaplan provided presentations on different drills throughout. In addition to the tennis, Frank Dolan, owner of Sports and Fitness Performance in Islip, was on hand to demonstrate some basic fitness and stretching exercises that can be used.

“I thought the event went really well,” said Kambourian. “The coaches get an opportunity to play some tennis, talk about the upcoming season with each other and hopefully take home a few ideas that will help their teams. We emphasize our availability throughout the year to answer any questions and are resources they can rely on during the season.”

One of the main objectives of the workshop is for the members of the local tennis community, both those who work for private businesses and those who coach at public schools, to develop relationships with each other in order to enhance the sport for all.  

“We had some familiar faces but we also had some newer coaches which was nice to see,” added Kaplan. “As a tennis club, we want to make sure we are meeting the needs of the players, and this was a good way to address a lot of questions that some of these coaches have, and to also reinforce some of the things these coaches are already doing. It went very well.”

“The coaches clinic was a great opportunity for newer tennis coaches like myself to learn from some of the professional instructors on Long Island,” said Greg Belillo, head coach of Oyster Bay. “I appreciate the efforts of coaches like Steve and Keith for fostering a link between the private clubs and the high school programs. It was very informative and well done.”

The boys’ high school season on Long Island gets underway on March 21.