Varsity Coach
Welcome to the 2024 St. Louis Park Tennis Season! My name is Kevin R. Jones. I am the new Varsity Girls Tennis Coach. I could not be more proud to represent the SLP team, Players, Families, Athletic Department, Schools and Community. I've been working in St. Louis Park for 25 years. I met my wife of 23 years in St. Louis Park. Some of the players may have had her as a teacher, Carrie Runke-Jones. I have a son Lucas, who will be in 12th grade and a daughter Veronica, who will be in 11th grade. Both attend St. Louis Park High School. I recently spent 2 years teaching abroad with my family in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2019-2021. I have 20+ years of coaching many sports at all levels in St. Louis Park and abroad. 10 years Assistant Varsity Football, 5 years Head Coach Girls Varsity Fastpitch, 3 years JV and Co Head Coach Boys Golf, 1 year Head Girls Golf, 1 year Freshman Baseball, 3 years Freshman B Basketball, 1 year JV Girls Badminton (Abu Dhabi), 1 year JV Boys Basketball (Abu Dhabi), 1 year 5th and 6th grade Boys Soccer (Abu Dhabi).
It has been fun meeting 20+ players over the 5 weeks of Summer Camps. It is important for me to get to know all of the players that represent the Tennis program. I will do my best to genuinely make connections with all players and families. A big part of my philosophy is to meet players where they are at as a person and at their ability level. I believe in having fun with the understanding that working hard for the team can be fun!
Rules, Expectation's, and Lettering are in the works. I would say that as a player, the expectation is that you will do all you can to be there for your team. The beauty of participating in extracurricular activities is that you can leave everything going on at the door and focus on being a good teammate. Whatever is going on outside of tennis will be there after tennis.
Captains will be selected at the end season by the coaches. Players who are interested in being captain for the following season will be asked to fill out a brief questionnaire. Coaches will make the final decision based on leadership, commitment, integrity and attitude on and off the tennis court.
With so many ways to communicate at this time, I will be settling on for sure using gopark.org, email, and one other form of communication. I would expect that if there is a question or concern that the player come to the coach first and then we can go from there.
I am looking forward to the season!
Thank you for your support.
Kevin R. Jones
jones.kevin@slpschools.org
