Coach Paul Biddle

I have been coaching tennis at Amherst Middle School and High School since I started teaching in 2003. I coached boys and girls modified tennis for 9 years before I moved to the Varsity level. I have worked with players who have never held a racquet before to advanced 4.5 players. Outside of tennis I have also been the modified co-ed swim coach for twelve years. I love coaching and seeing the students in a non-academic light. It keeps me in shape, keeps me playing and more importantly gives me a chance to pass on the knowledge and love of tennis with my players. I am also a band teacher at the Middle School and teach band, general music, lessons, accompany the Middle School choirs, direct the Jazz Lab, direct Small Ensembles and produce the musical each year. Music and tennis are two things you can do for life which is in part why I am passionate about them both.

In the summer of 2012 I joined Miller Tennis center and started to play on a more regular basis. I have played and won many 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 men’s singles tournaments and also played doubles quite a bit. I take tennis drill classes, lessons and play in multiple leagues year-round. This extra playing and learning has helped me a lot in the last few years with coaching. I have been able to bring different drills, teaching techniques and upgraded my own playing to be able to help the talented Varsity players we have at Amherst High School. Recently I also joined the USTA league to keep myself motivated and playing during the summer. I have also started a summer program for students entering grades 6-12. It is a 4 week program which can be signed up for under the community education portion of the Amherst webpage. The program runs from July -August each year as a 4 week session.

Since 2016 I have been the ECIC Chairmen for the Girl's Varsity tennis season. I love doing this as a way of giving back to the sport, the coaches and the players. Tennis and teaching are both passions for me and a good day is when one kid has a smile or walks away feeling good about what they have accomplished. I try to bring in guest clinicians and tennis professionals to work with our students. The number one thing a teacher should know is that they do not know everything. I like to work with a variety of professionals in both the music and tennis fields hoping I can gain some new knowledge or different technqiues of teaching. Some of the best ideas I have had have come from other dedicated teachers.