Coaches Corner

     Coach Steve Barsby has guided GCSU’s men and women’s tennis programs into national forces for the past six seasons.
Barsby has the No. 21 Bobcats and No. 9 Lady Bobcats ready to pounce again with both teams starting the season 3-0.
     “We’ve got two strong teams this year that can compete with the best,” Barsby said.
     Barsby broke into tennis as a teenager growing up in Canada where hockey is king.
     “I played hockey my whole life and when I was 14, a friend of mine who was into tennis said ‘Hey, lets play some tennis,’ got into it, loved it, never looked back,” Barsby said. “I ended up getting ranked in Canada by the time I was 18 and got a scholarship and played over at Troy State in Alabama.”
     After spending four years at Troy where he earned      All-Conference honors twice, he became a graduate assistant and eventually was offered the job as the Trojans’ head coach.
Barsby got out of coaching after two years in order to pursue a master’s degree at Florida State University and eventually moved back to Canada to teach sports management at Brock University in Ontario.
     “My wife’s family is from (Milledgeville),” Barsby said. “So when I left Canada we were moving here no matter what. So I called the coach and said ‘hey I’ll help, I’ll volunteer.’”
Barsby ended up doing more than volunteering. Then tennis coach, Duward Whelchel was retiring and convinced Barsby to apply for the job.
     “I applied and got the job, and I have never looked back since,” Barsby said. “I love it, Georgia College has been great. I didn’t play here, but I feel like I have the loyalty of a player who did. It’s been like a second family.”
     Barsby also serves GCSU as an assistant athletic director, a position established after the implementation of the soccer program.
     “When Stan Aldridge was rehired as the athletic director he got two assistants,” Barsby said. “It was an internal search and I got it, I love it, love meeting and talking to players.”
Barsby said his job is mostly paperwork, but that it is still enjoyable for him.
     “(GCSU) is great,” Barsby said. “I’ve loved every minute of everything I’ve done here.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 16 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry