HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) will present its annual awards during the upcoming 2016 PTR International Tennis Symposium. The event, which includes more than 40 educational presentations for tennis teachers and coaches, will take place during the Symposium being held from February 17-20, on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Haverford College women's tennis head coach Ann Koger has been named PTR Jim Verdieck College Coach of the Year. Under her leadership, the women's tennis team at Haverford has an all-time record of 351-225. She has coached three conference singles champions, two conference doubles champions, and a host of players with conference, regional and national rankings.
"I have always liked to play and test my athletic skills, formally and informally. Then, the opportunity came along when I was 18 and I have enjoyed using my skills to help others learn," said Koger.
Haverford has made the Centennial Conference Tournament during each of the last seven seasons under Koger. During the spring of 2014, the Fords advanced to their first ever Centennial Conference Tournament championship match with a 5-3 win against Franklin & Marshall in the semifinals. In 2015, Haverford continued its rise by winning 15 matches in a season for the first time since 1999. Twice, Koger was named the USTA Middle States Philadelphia District College Coach of the Year.
"It's great to know that I played for a coach of such caliber at a Division III institution, stated former Ford and Hall of Achievement honoree, Patty Dinella McMillian '86. "She could have gone anywhere with her achievements over the years."
In 2015, Koger was elected to a second term of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Board of Directors and serves as a member of the ITA Small College Operating Committee.
Koger has been a USTA Section National Coach for 19 years, and has coached several professional, district, section and nationally ranked players.
"I especially like coaching youth and girls/women. The look in a person's face when they have achieved is priceless," she said.
A 2010 inductee to the USTA Middle States and the Black Tennis Halls of Fame, Koger was also inducted into the Hall of Achievement at the Philadelphia Association of Black Sports and Culture. She is also in the Morgan State University Athletic Hall of Fame, recognized for tennis, which was one of the seven sports she played as an undergraduate. After college, Koger played on the Virginia Slims Professional Women's Tennis Circuit.
PTR is the largest global organization of tennis teaching professionals with more than 15,000 members in 127 countries. It has the greatest percentage of multicultural and women members of any such organization. PTR is dedicated to educating, certifying and servicing tennis teachers and coaches around the world in order to grow the game.