Coach Profile: Jennifer Bishop

SWAMPSCOTT, MA - Jennifer Bishop is a high school tennis coach, community tennis director, USTA League player and advocate of the game. Heading into her fourth year as the Swampscott High Boys’ Varsity Coach, Jen is eager to get her team back to the playoffs after missing a 2020 season which she previously deemed “our year.” For the past six years, Jen has also been running Swampscott’s recreational tennis program, which gave her valuable experience during her transition into the head coach role.

We recently caught up with Jen to learn more about the work she’s done to grow and develop tennis in Swampscott.

How did your experience as the Recreation Department’s tennis director help as you became a varsity coach?

I’ve been running the Town of Swampscott’s Recreation Department’s tennis program for the last six years where we offer a summer tennis camp from five days a week in the summer and a fall after school program. Our camps are broken down into three sections: agility, instruction and drills/games. I run my high school practices in a similar way. We keep it fun but get the job done with improvement being the goal! I’m now starting to see some of my rec kids join the tennis team, which was another goal of mine. 

What is your favorite part of the coaching job?

My favorite part of coaching is helping a team evolve and improve over the course of a season.  Whether it’s an unlikely doubles team that syncs together and learns to support each other or a singles player who learns a new strategy and uses it to become a better player, it’s great to see  players grow. It is very rewarding to witness a team come together and accomplish a goal through hard work and dedication. 

How did your teams fare in your first two full seasons coaching?

In 2018, we earned Swampscott’s first state tournament win in four years after beating Bishop Fenwick in an extremely close match. I was so proud of the team for working hard and earning it, very exciting. In 2019, we missed the state tournament by one loss, which came down to a tiebreak in the third set against Somerville. Our division has changed and I’m very excited for the 2021 season. There are a lot of good things on the horizon for the Swampscott boys.