Somerset tennis coach Doug Chapman's winning ways have taken him to a major milestone
SWANSEA — It’s been a milestone week for Doug Chapman.
One day after he got his 600th career win as Somerset High School/Somerset Berkley Regional boys’ tennis coach, the Somerset resident reached 700 high school/college coaching wins on Tuesday when his Raiders battled past host Case 3-2 in their South Coast Conference inter-divisional match at Swansea Memorial Park’s split (2-3) courts.
This is Chapman’s 44th year and 43rd season as SHS/SBR head coach, a position he was hired for after his sophomore year at Boston University. He is also the head coach for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women’s tennis and previously coached the Roger Williams University women’s team for one season and Bridgewater State College men for one season.
Himself a former Raider tennis player, Chapman’s career record at SHS/SBR is 601-234.
The 2022 Raiders are 2-0 and Chapman has gotten the milestones out of the way.
“If it weren’t for COVID and half-seasons, this could have happened a long time ago,” Chapman said on Tuesday night. “It’s great to get the milestones out of the way and great to get the Case match out of the way. That’s a difficult place to play.”
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Chapman, 63, said he plans to keep coaching for as long as his health holds up and his enthusiasm heading into each season remains high. “My dad says I’ll go to 50 years,” he said.
His Raider teams have claimed 10 league titles and qualified for the playoffs 36 times.
In a nod to Chapman’s career achievements, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association named him its boys’ tennis coach of the year in 2020, the year it canceled spring sports due to COVID concerns.
While he would not select a single best team or best player, he did mention his 1984 crew as possibly his favorite team and definitely his most overachieving. With six (out of seven) brand new starters, those Raiders won 14 matches by 3-2 and posted a 20-0 regular-season record.
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“That was a real team. Tough in the clutch,” he said.
On Tuesday in Swansea, the overall contest hinged on a marathon second doubles match, with Mason Sawyer and Collin Sullivan winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 over Christian Libertore and Josh Harrington. Also for SBR, sophomore Joseph Ramos defeated Win Golembewski 6-4, 6-1 at first singles and Zach Costa defeated Connor Latessa 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3.
For Case (0-1), Caden Capaldo defeated Tyler Barros 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, and Adam Podeski and Jacob Surrell defeated Tom Rose and Matt Carlesi 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Somerset tennis coach Doug Chapman notches his 700th coaching win
