The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is excited to announce the creation of a new position and the hiring of Danielle McNamara as the Director of Coach Education. She will work closely alongside Chief Operating Officer, Dave Mullins.
“As a coaches organization, we are always looking for opportunities to enhance the offerings for our member coaches,” said ITA CEO Dr. Timothy Russell. “We established the new position of Director of Coach Education to build upon the excellent foundation developed by Dave Mullins, including the Coach Masterclass, the highly popular ITA College Tennis Coaches podcast, ITA/USTA mentorship program, and new coach orientation and support group. I extend my sincerest welcome to Danielle, an individual who has served our sport as a student-athlete, coach, and member of the ITA Board of Directors. She is a highly intelligent, thoughtful, and knowledgeable coach, teacher and leader, and a person of the highest integrity. I know our coaches will benefit greatly from her insights, support, and collaboration.”
“I’m thrilled to welcome Danielle to the ITA,” said Mullins. “Having served on ITA Operating Committees, the ITA Board, and having coached against her in the Big 12 Conference, I’ve had the opportunity to observe Danielle’s commitment and passion for college tennis. I look forward to working with Danielle to expand and enhance our offerings to member coaches in the area of coach education and beyond.”
McNamara was the women’s tennis head coach at Yale from 2006-14, and 2016-21. She was also the head coach at Texas from 2014-15. She guided Yale to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the first in program history in 2008. McNamara coached 27 All-Ivy singles players, 12 All-Ivy doubles teams, two Ivy League Rookie of the Year players, and the first Yale women’s tennis Ivy League Player of the Year.
McNamara played college tennis at the University of Michigan, where she became the first player in program history to participate in all three national championships; ITA All-Americans, ITA National Indoors, and NCAA Championships. McNamara served as team captain, and was named Big Ten Sportswoman of the Year.
“I would like to thank Tim Russell and Dave Mullins for this exciting opportunity to join the ITA staff,” said McNamara. “I’m so grateful to be able to continue working in college tennis in this new role and I look forward to bolstering the area of coach education for all of our coaches in all Divisions.”
