Waynesburg College tennis coach Ron Christman is a certified professional member of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and an experienced tournament player, tennis instructor, and coach. He continues to teach privately and run tennis camps in the off-season.
The 2003-2004 tennis season will be Christman's sixth at Waynesburg College. He started with the women's tennis program in the fall of 1998 and added the men's team in the spring of 2000. Both programs have steadily improved under Christman's direction, with each team elevating standards on the court and in the classroom each year.
Under Christman’s direction, the both the men’s and women’s teams feature all-conference players every year since 2001, while in 2003 the women’s team placed second in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) while amassing the most wins in school history.
Renowned for his ability to build programs, Christman spoke on a panel of the governing body of collegiate tennis, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), at its 18th annual coaches convention at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Fla. During the convention, held in December of 2002, Christman spoke on a coaches’ panel entitled “Building Programs.” Coaches representing the top programs in the country were featured on the panel, including Christman, Princeton University coach Louise Gengler, Stanford University coach Dick Gould, and University of Texas coach Jeff Moore, who shared their ideas to developing tennis programs.
Christman is a member of the ITA, which is comprised of nearly 1,500 men's and women's coaches representing over 1,200 institutions across the country from all three NCAA Divisions, as well as the NAIA and Junior and Community Colleges. The ITA oversees activities involving over 25,000 college student-athletes.
The Waynesburg women's team excelled in academics, as five team members were placed on the 2002 PAC Academic Honor Roll. Their hard work in the classroom led to two straight years with the coveted ITA All-Academic Team Award in 2001 and 2002. Fewer that 10 percent of the women's NCAA Division III team in the nation earn this award. Players from both men's and women's teams are now regulars on the PAC Academic Honor Roll. The 3.6 GPA for the PAC honor roll is among the highest standard in the nation.
Christman is also credited with enhancing the PAC championship experience on and off the court. He has re-written the conference rules and tournament format for both men's and women's tennis. The conference now follows ITA rules for all dual matches and the conference tournament is one of the few in NCAA Division III tournaments with an outside tournament director and certified rules.
Christman has been recognized for his contributions to the sport and the changes made in the Waynesburg tennis program. Among his accolades are 2003 and 1999 Women's Tennis PAC Coach of the Year, 2000 USPTA Middle States Division College Coach of the Year, and also receiving recognition as an award-winning seminar presenter. His Winning Doubles Strategy seminar was chosen the best presentation at the regional convention and he was asked to be a presenter at the USPTA World Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.
Tennis activities encompass many other areas on Christman's schedule. He has served as president of community tennis organizations, and has been certified as a USTA tournament official and as a USTA NTRP rating verifier. Christman's teaching activities range from introducing tennis to adults and children through the USTA Tennis 1-2-3 program to running camps for serious players. He continues to work privately with strong young players in the area.
A native of Washington, Pa., Christman attended Waynesburg College and Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. He returned to the area after many years with the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester.
