Jacksonville, Florida-Edward Waters Associate Vice President/Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Dr. Ivana Rich has announced the hiring of Marc Atkinson as the inaugural head coach of the EWU Women's Tennis program.
Atkinson has over 15 years of experience as a tennis coach and has extensive knowledge in building and sustaining successful tennis programs at the youth level. He has also received several awards in his career as a coach including the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Florida Diversity Award and USPTA Florida District 3 Professional of the Year.
A Jacksonville native, Atkinson comes to Edward Waters from the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation where he has held many roles from Tennis Coach to Director of Tennis for the organization.
"Being a head coach in a city that made me who am today is very exciting. I grew up on State Street, which is 5 blocks away from the EWU campus," said Atkinson. "Over the past 10 years, I have watched this university get better each year and I am excited to start something special at EWU."
Atkinson is also an accomplished tennis player in his own right. He was a four-year letterwinner as a walk-on at Florida A&M University as a walk-on. In 2009, he was named FAMU Men's Tennis' Most Improved Player. Atkinson graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology.
"Walking on and playing collegiate tennis at FAMU, taught me to never give up no matter what," said Atkinson. "I expect to bring that same energy to EWU. Coaching college tennis at an HBCU is truly exciting. I have the chance to make history and bring more awareness to college tennis at HBCUs and the black community."
He also had a phenomenal prep career at Robert E. Lee High School (currently Riverside High School), where he was a part of the All-Conference team and the district finals. In his best season with the Generals, he had 12 wins and only 1 loss.
Atkinson will lead the Lady Tigers in their first season of competition during the Spring of 2024.
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