The creator of the Slug Tennis program, Bob Hansen enters his 22th season as the UC Santa Cruz Men's Tennis Coach. Regarded as one of the best coaches in the country, twice Coach Hansen has been selected as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Coach of the Year and last year was honored as the ITA Coach of the Decade for the 90's. (During the 90's his teams were undefeated against Div lll opponents in the regular season going 73-0) He has served as an executive board member of the ITA as well as its Division III representative.
Currently he serves as a member of the ITA Sports Science and Rules Committees. He has also received the Coach of the Year honor from the United States Professional Tennis Association. Hansen has led the Slugs to the final four of the NCAA team championships fourteen out of the past fifteen years. The team has won Six NCAA National Team Championships (1989, 1995,1996,1998,2005 and 2007) and have reached the NCAA finals twelve of the past eighteen years. His players have won nine NCAA National Doubles titles including the last three and four NCAA National Sinlges titles. Under coach Hansen's direction the Slug Tennis program has produced over 100 All-American selections.
As a player, Coach Hansen was Northern California's Open Player of the Year and was ranked in the top eight for five straight years. He received an ATP world ranking as well as much valuable coaching experience while playing the international circuit before coming to UC Santa Cruz. He registered wins over many top 100 players including top ten players Brad Gilbert and Paul Macnamee. He won the USTA 40 National Grass Court Championships held in Santa Barbara.
During the summers he directs the NIKE Santa Cruz Tennis Camps where he was a pioneer in the development of the tournament training program for ranked juniors.
Recently inducted to the USTA Northern California Section Hall of Fame.
