The UMass Men’s Tennis Team is entering the 2004 season with a new coach and hopefully some new players.

Very recently Carl Briggs, a Rhode Island resident, was hired to be the men’s and women’s tennis coach. In 1989 Briggs was the number one singles player at the University of Rhode Island and in 1999 he was named the USPTA New England Senior Player of the Year. In addition to his new coaching job here at UMass he also works at the Boston Sports Club as a Tennis Pro.

The team this year numbers only four players, but they are pretty solid. Returning from last year are two players, including Quazi Sadruzzaman who has won three straight single’s championships, the first player in his conference ever to do so. The team also has a transfer coming on board and is welcoming back a player who was on the team two years ago.

Despite the team’s great base of players there is a huge need to fill the remaining slots. “I’ll take another four like the guys I got now. Hard workers, very receptive to coaching, and they want to learn” said Briggs.

Coach Briggs also noted, “The team’s schedule is pretty flexible and accommodating to busy students. We have no long road trips and finish up in May.” Flexibility is something that Briggs knows is more important at UMB than at most other schools. “It’s definitely a challenge in a school where there are a lot of non-traditional students.”

Time, of course, is always a problem when students want to play a team sport but feel they are under too much pressure from class work, family life, and jobs. But Briggs sees it as a unique chance, arguing, “You only go to college once and it’s an opportunity to play a great sport for a great team. Tennis is a life sport. You play it when you’re young and you play it when you’re older, too.”

Interested players should contact Coach Briggs at 617-287-7846 or [email protected].