When tennis coach Brendan Mattingly isn’t on the court, he can be found continuing his hobby as a sports photographer. Mattingly was a professional photographer for most of his lifetime, working for large companies such as ESPN and even the United States government.

Mattingly is a certified United States Professional Tennis Association teaching professional and has competed professionally at country clubs and tennis tournaments. During his junior year of high school, Mattingly decided to give tennis a try and ended up sticking with the sport. He then went on to express his love for sports through photography.

In addition to working for companies such as Forbes, GQ and Sports Illustrated, Mattingly has traveled all over the world for his job to places like Ireland and the Grand Canyon to take pictures.

Mattingly’s first job at CESJDS was coaching the girls varsity tennis team during the fall of last year. His former experience helped to lead the young tennis team through their first year with a new coach, with the team being represented in three out of the five championship matches. Sophomore Talia Jacobson feels that Mattingly brings a unique atmosphere to the team.

“Coach Brendan brings a very positive atmosphere and a community feeling to the team,” Jacobson said.

Boys co-captain and sophomore Oren Swagel has seen an improvement of team unity throughout their first season with Mattingly as coach. “Coach not only makes us better individual players, but he makes us better teammates, teaching us important values of being a team player,” Swagel said.

Players are encouraged by Mattingly’s calm demeanor and previous experience and are excited for the future of their team. First doubles player and sophomore Jason Vinokur has had a successful season, culminating in a league win along with his partner Adam Drexler.

“He motivates us to play better every single match and teaches us all the techniques that are needed to win,” Vinokur said. While Mattingly acknowledges the inexperience of the teams due to a lack of upperclassman, he plans to help the teams win and believes that with practice and patience this goal can be achieved.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won a tennis banner,” Mattingly said. “I’d like to get us into the habit of being in contention and winning banners.”

This story was featured in Volume 37, Issue 1 print edition of The Lion’s Tale, published on Aug. 27, 2019.