Somerset Berkley tennis coach named MIAA 'Coach of the Year'

SOMERSET – In what can be viewed as career achievement award, Doug Chapman, longtime boys’ tennis coach at Somerset Berkley Regional High School, has been chosen to receive the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Boys’ Tennis Coach of the Year award for 2019-2020, SBR Director of Athletics Joseph Francis announced.

SBR boys’ tennis had no season this past spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down all school athletics.

Chapman has coached Somerset Berkley Regional (previously Somerset High School) for 41 seasons with his teams winning 594 matches, 10 league titles and qualifying for the state tournament 35 times. A former Somerset High tennis team captain, Chapman began his high school coaching career at the end of his sophomore year at Boston University.

Part of the letter from the MIAA to Chapman read, “Your selection was based upon excellence of character, impact upon students and community and coaching credentials. Please accept our sincere appreciation for the impact that you have had on students by helping them develop skills and values necessary for success in their lives.”

"Regardless of their role on the team," Francis said, "Doug holds all his student athletes accountable. He asks them to give their best effort every day.  His long tenure as the face of Somerset and Somerset Berkley Tennis is a testament to the great job he has done for our community."

This was the third award for Chapman in the last seven months. Last November in Newton, he received Tennis Industry Association's 2019 National High School Coach of the Year. In February at the Professional Tennis Registry International Symposium in Hilton Head, S.C., Chapman was honored as the TRI's 2020 National High School Coach of the Year.

He was also named the High School Coach of the Year by Racquet Sports Industry magazine in its January 2020 edition. In its tribute on page 33, RSI noted that Chapman is a no-cut coach who has been inducted into five halls of fame. This past winter, Chapman (SHS Class of 1976) was named the Professional Tennis Registry High School Coach of the Year award winner.

The Somerset resident has also coached UMass Dartmouth women's tennis for the last seven seasons.

Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.