Zaron takes over as new coach of Althoff tennis team

Nearly a decade after teaming with doubles partner Nick Birger to dominate the local tennis scene like few had before, Belleville native Brian Zaron returned to the tennis courts on Monday at Althoff High School. Only this time, Zaron was wearing an Althoff shirt.

A 2007 graduate of Belleville West, the 27-year-old Zaron was hired on Monday as the new Althoff boys tennis coach, taking over the Crusaders’ program from longtime coach Rusty Parker.

“Actually, I was hired about two hours ago. I met with Althoff Athletic Director Mr. (Greg) Leib and he hired me for the job. I’m super excited about this opportunity,” Zaron said. “I grew up playing on these courts. I live right down the street from Althoff and I know what a great place Althoff is. My mom helps out at the church and my dad still drives the bus for Althoff. It’s a special place for my family and like I said, it’s a great opportunity.”

The Crusaders, who open their season on Saturday at the Alton Tournament, return several players with experience including Jimmy Monken, Donovan McKnight and Jimmy DelVecchio as well as several players who have played very little or no tennis at the high school level.

Making it fun for the kids

In Zaron, Althoff has a coach with the knowledge and personality to make the 2016 season both a rewarding and fun experience. While playing at the highest levels in high school when he and Birger became the top doubles team in metro-east high school tennis history with three straight top five finishes in the Illinois High School Association State Tennis Tournament, Zaron’s outgoing personality made it fun for fans, coaches and teammates to be around that special time in Belleville West Maroons tennis history.

While Zaron hopes his team is successful, he wants members of his team to have fun playing the game.

“We’re just hitting a lot of tennis balls today (Monday) and then later in the week we’ll have challenge matches to start to sort out where everybody should be in the lineup. The good thing is that we’ve got 12 kids and so we’ll have enough for two full teams. It means that everyone will get a chance to play,” Zaron said. “Everybody wants to win. But most of all I want these kids to have fun playing tennis. That’s the way it should be. I don’t want one of my players to be all upset in school the day after he gets beat in a match.”

Learning the ropes

While Monken, McKnight and DelVecchio are among those Crusaders with experience, also making up the Crusaders squad are Joey Bates, David Osthoff, Stone Galloway, Harrison Maine, Paul Fries, Devin Piper, Stephen Waltrip, Joey Weir and Daniel Stovey.

Zaron, who went on to play four years of NCAA Division I tennis at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, has some coaching background. Zaron has helped teach tennis clinics and also works as a substitute teacher in the metro-east.

“I’ve coached. Not that this level. But I’ve given some lessons and helped at clinics,” Zaron said. “I just enjoy working with kids and seeing them succeed. There is nothing more rewarding for me than that.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Zaron takes over as new coach of Althoff tennis team."