July 26, 2011

Art Smith '68 Named Head Men's Tennis Coach

Moravian College has named Art Smith ’68 its next head men’s tennis coach effective immediately.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College has named Art Smith '68 its next head men's tennis coach effective immediately.

Smith returns to his alma mater after serving as an assistant men's basketball coach from 1992 through 2002 and assistant men's tennis coach from 1997 through 2002. He was inducted into Moravian's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 for his accomplishments on the tennis courts as a student-athlete from 1966 through 1968 including reaching the Middle Atlantic Conference Semifinals in 1967 and being named Moravian's Senior Male Outstanding Athlete of the Year in 1968.

"We are pleased and excited to have Hall of Famer Art Smith returning to campus to lead our men's tennis program," stated Scot Dapp, who was named the Director of Athletics & Recreation on July 1st. "Art has a wealth of experience at both the high school and collegiate level and will challenge our program to continue reaching the Landmark Conference Tournament and achieve the program's first conference championship."

In addition to his coaching stint at Moravian, Smith was co-director of the Greyhound Tennis Camp from 1981 through 1988, and he was the head men's tennis coach at Lehigh University from 1971 through 1974. On the high school level, Smith has had two stints as the head coach at Parkland High School, most recently from 2003 through 2009, and he also spent two years coaching at Liberty High School.

Smith takes over a Moravian program that was 8-6 in 2010-11 and reached the conference postseason tournament for the fifth straight year. The Greyhounds, who are expecting nine letterwinners to return for the 2011 fall season including four Landmark All-Conference honorees, played in their first-ever conference championship match back in 2009. Moravian's men's tennis program dates back to 1938.

"I am honored and excited to return to Moravian College and to have the opportunity to coach the Men's Tennis Team," Smith said. "I plan to use hard work and enthusiasm to help the team to achieve a Landmark Conference Championship."

Smith, who has spent nearly his entire life in the Lehigh Valley, grew up in Easton before attending Moravian to earn a Bachelor of Arts in history. After attending Officers Candidates School in Fort Benning, Georgia and serving as an Infantry Platoon Leader in Vietnam, Smith returned to begin a 37-year teaching career in the Parkland School District including 30 years as a social studies teacher at Troxell Junior High School. He also received a Master of Arts in Education from Lehigh in 1972.

Smith has been certified in teaching tennis by the United States Professional Tennis Association since 1979 and served as the Director of Tennis for the City of Bethlehem at Sand Island from 1991 through 2005. He was also the head tennis pro at the Northampton Country Club from 1976 through 1984. Smith spent nine years as the freshman boy's basketball coach at Parkland from 1981 to 1992.

Moravian now has five graduates serving as head coaches with Smith joining softball coach John Byrne '82, golf coach Kevin Edwards '96, field hockey coach Amy Endler '93 and football coach Jeff Pukszyn '97.