Ed Collins (1946- )

     Ed Collins, a native of San Diego, is a coaching icon in the San Diego tennis scene. He attended Grossmont College and San Diego State University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1968 and a Masters in Physical Education at SDSU. That same year, Ed began his coaching career as the Monte Vista High School boy’s tennis coach, before going on to assist Dennis Van der Meer at the Berkeley Tennis Club. He assisted Bob Ray at Morley Field 1971 to 1973 and was the tennis director at the Rancho Bernardo Tennis College from 1973 to 1977. In 1978 he took over as men’s coach at the University of San Diego and compiled a won-loss record of 349 - 150 until 1996. USD was ranked in the Division I top 25 nine times. Collins was the 1990 ITA Region 8 Coach-of-the-Year and a 2001 inductee to the USD Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1990 Ed founded the Julius Collins Tennis Scholarship Fund which has provided tens of thousands of dollars of financial aid for camps and instruction to deserving San Diego junior players. Ed is currently the Director of the Ed Collins Tennis Academy at the Peninsula Tennis club at Robb Field which he established in 1996. A recipient of the San Diego USPTA Coach of the Year award in 1980, 1982 and 1986, he is a 36 year member of the USPTA. Ed served on Youth Tennis San Diego’s Board of Directors for 22 years. The author of Watch the Ball, Bend Your Knees, That’ll be $40 Please!, he also published the Ed Collins Tennis Journal for Teachers and Coaches from 1996 to 2000. Since 1970 over 25,000 students have attended Ed’s junior and adult camps. He and his wife Judith reside in San Diego.