Feb. 26, 2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University women's tennis team is pleased to announce the addition of Derek Fitzpatrick to the coaching staff. Fitzpatrick's will work as a volunteer assistant coach with the Broncos. Specifically, Fitzpatrick will work with the team on player development and technical skills development.

"I am very happy to welcome Derek to the women's tennis staff," said Bronco head coach Ben Cabell. "Derek will be a great extra person out there on the court and his experiences will definitely help the team and their development as players. His personality is a great match for our team and he will be able to contribute a lot to the team."

"I am very excited to be here at Santa Clara," said Fitzpatrick. "It's great to be back in collegiate tennis. Ben has set very achievable goals for this year and I'm very excited to be a part of this program in the coming years."

Fiztpatrick, a native of the Bay Area, is no stranger to collegiate tennis. Fitzpatrick was an outstanding member of the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs tennis team from 1998 to 2001. They won a team championship in 1998 and he won an individual singles and doubles championship in 2001. Fitzpatrick was also a five-time All-American and was named UCSC's Male Athlete of the Year in 2001.

After graduating from UCSC in 2001, Fitzpatrick competed on the ITF and ATP tours for three years before returning to the Bay Area and is now currently in his second year as a member of the Eagle Fustar Tennis Development academy.