Ketcham honored for coaching excellence
COSTA MESA -- Longtime Orange Coast College tennis coach, Chris Ketcham earned himself a pair of deserved honors following the 2023 season, receiving the 2023 Wilson/ITA California Community College Women's Tennis Coach of the Year as well as the USPTA Coach of the Year.
The Wilson/ITA California Community College Women's Tennis Coach of the Year is awarded to the best women's community college coach in the state, an honor that Ketcham also earned in 2017. It's based off of a nomination from a fellow coach and voted on by a committee of California community college coaches.
"This is a prestigious honor to be recognized as the best coach by your peers," Ketcham said. "I feel very fortunate to win this award not once but twice as there are many good, hard working coaches who never get their deserved recognition."
The USPTA College Coach of the Year recognizes the most outstanding college coach who is an active member of the United States Professional Tennis Association, which is the largest national organization for professional tennis coaches in the U.S. Ketcham's coach of the year honors is for the Southern California Division.
"When I learned I was the recipient of this award, I was very excited," Ketcham said. "Being recognized by my fellow coaching colleagues for the hard work and dedication put into developing young student-athletes makes it a special award to receive. I can't stress enough the importance of our committed and dedicated student-athletes. I don't hit the shots nor do I win the matches so without them, none of these honors would be possible."
Ketcham has been OCC's men's tennis coach since 2008 and has been the Pirates' women's head coach since 2016, winning state titles on the women's side in 2017 and 2019. This past season, he helped guide the women's team to an incredible 21-1 record, winning the Orange Empire Conference and advancing all the way to the CCCAA State Championship finals before falling to American River.
In addition to his time at Coast, Ketcham as also been the director of the junior tennis program at The Tennis Club and has helped several ranked local junior teams to numerous Southern California Sectional titles.
