When a search began for a new tennis coach at Emmaus, the school’s athletic department didn’t have to look to far for its next head coach.
They just turned to one of their own.
Brian Bleam, a 1993 graduate of Emmaus, has been named to take over the girls and boys programs.
“I’m very excited,” said Bleam on Wednesday during the first week of fall sports. “I went here 25 years ago when Emmaus had a very strong tennis team and pretty rich history. My goal this year is to be the most improved team in the league and that’s what I told the girls from day one.”
Bleam, 43, takes over for longtime head coach Dimiti Diamandopolous who stepped down this past spring after 25 seasons.
A resident of Allentown, Bleam most recently served as an assistant at Muhlenberg College and also spent three years (2014-2016) at Salisbury High School. He played tennis at Bluffton University in Ohio before transferring to York College where he graduated in 1998.
“With his background and passion that he expressed during the interview process about the East Penn School District and wanting to coach for Emmaus set him apart from everybody else,” said new athletic director Rebecca George.
“Brian lives, breathes and dies tennis every single day. That’s his profession. It’s not just being a tennis coach on the side and doing something else during the day. He does tennis 24-7 so why not have somebody like that. ”
Bleam has an extensive tennis background both playing and teaching the game. He currently serves as the head tennis pro at Oakmont Tennis Club in Allentown training a number of the top high school players in the area in all age groups.
He’s hoping to bring his knowledge and expertise to help Emmaus bounce back from a 6-9 season a year ago.
“I’m very excited to introduce my training techniques that I’m familiar with and have done over at Oakmont and through coaching both at Muhlenberg at Salisbury,” he said.
“Tennis is a sport where it can take a couple of years to get a good feel for it and there are quite a few freshmen on the team that have been playing for five or six years so that experience will definitely help them . We have a fairly young team so we’re going to teach them a good work ethic and hopefully they will embrace the challenge of the competition and keep on improving every week. ”
Emmaus opens its season on Monday, August 20 when they host Bethlehem Catholic at 3:30 p.m.