Edison High School’s longtime boys and girls varsity tennis coach Mr Wesley Smith was recently named the High School Tennis Coach of the Year by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) eastern section. The USTA eastern section is an organization that covers the sport in northern New Jersey and the state of New York. This recognition highlights his dedication and impact on Edison’s tennis programs.
“Winning the award was based on many things,” said Smith. These included “the coaching of 30 seasons at Edison High, running of the GMC tournament, and the success of the boys and girls tennis program with the boys having won the White division and the girls having finished 3rd.”
Despite the honor, Smith was initially unaware of his achievement.
“They actually sent me an email back in early December, but I did not really see it,” Smith said. “Then I saw Sarvesh [Premkumar, boys first singles] in the hallway at EHS in mid-December, and he told me that I had won the award.”
The unexpected recognition added to what has already been a long and storied coaching career.
“I was really happy to hear about Coach Smith’s award,” said Pranav Srinivasan ‘27. “Now that we have brand new tennis courts, I can’t wait to get back to the game and finally defeat JP this year.”
Smith began his career at Edison by starting as a Social Studies teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and started coaching the girls team at Edison High in 1995. The boys soon followed some time after in 2000. However, his tennis legacy does not only pertain to teaching at Edison High; in fact he started coaching tennis while in high school himself and became the director of a tennis camp in 1993. Three years later he followed up with another accomplishment by becoming a certified tennis professional, confirming his skills and experience as an instructor outside and inside EHS.
“Coach Smith is a great coach that motivates his entire team every day with a love for the sport,” said Chetan Kalam ‘26.
With the boys’ tennis season set to begin in just a month, Smith’s award adds excitement to the upcoming season. The team, eager to build on past successes, will now be even more motivated as they are competing under the guidance of an award-winning coach in the top red division of the GMC’s.
“I’m extremely excited for the upcoming tennis season, as we are officially in the Red division after two years of back-to-back white division titles,” said Kalam. “It’s going to be challenging but also really fun with the team we have.”
With another season to begin soon, how does Smith measure his coaching career?
“Lots of tennis balls.”