Many people at Erie High School know Jeffery Giger as an iron works teacher and as the football coach. But this year, he has added something new to resume: He is now also the girl’s tennis head coach. 

“Carpenter asked me if I would want to [be the coach]. At first, I didn’t know if I would have the time with everything that’s going on for me and my wife… [But] a couple things went the correct way for us, I guess, and then I told him I would be interested in doing it.”  Despite having coached many sports, tennis is not one he has coached before. For Giger, this makes this season a new experience, which he enjoys, “It’s fun coaching a different sport, and doing something different that you’ve never done before.” 

Giger is not in this experience alone, however. He has help from Matt Chavez, the assistant coach. Chavez has been coaching tennis for three years, two of which were at Erie. According to Chavez the change in head coaches has gone well, he says, “Honestly Giger’s a really organized coach. He gets the competitive spirit among all the players. All the girls seem to be loving the season so far.”

This sentiment is reflected by Campbell Moore, a sophomore on the tennis team, she says, “At first I was a little worried because he’s never played tennis before. But he is a great coach, I actually love him. He is really helpful with motivating us and giving us the right stuff we need to play our best. He is super good at connecting with all of us.” 

Giger may not know all the ins and outs of tennis, but he does know about sports. He knows about teams, and the mental aspects of sports. He uses that knowledge to improve the tennis team, “I never want to do anything halfway…so I think for me, and what I can bring is trying to constantly try to work on our competitiveness… working hard to be the best we can.”  He adds that, “There are certain things that cross all the lines: competing, learning how to play together, learning how to count on each other, being responsible for something that is bigger than you.” It is those things that Giger is focusing on.

Although the season has not been going for long, Giger has already started imparting these values to the athletes he is coaching. Moore recalls that one day, “I just had a match, and I lost, but [Giger] just gave me the best talk… he knew just what to say and it really changed my attitude and made me more motivated.”

Giger has not only worked on the mental aspect of the team, but also on making sure everyone on the team feels welcomed. Savannah Vennard, a senior on the tennis team, says “We have fifty girls on the team, so it’s like everyone can play. We have people from all different levels…there’s always opportunities to improve. If you want to join tennis you should.”

As the tennis team continues to grow and learn throughout the season, Giger wants them to know, “I think that they can set their goals high and they can achieve them. But they have to speak to them, and be willing to talk about being great, and be willing to work towards it… They can do so much more. We limit ourselves, and hopefully we [the coaches] can help them take away some of those limitations.”