Payson High School is thrilled to announce the appointment of Coach Jeremy Barber as our new head coach of the Girls Tennis Team. Our previous head coach, Coach Kris McDougal, has resigned in order to focus on her retirement pursuits. And we are very grateful for her dedicated service to our school and community. Coach Barber grew up in Arizona and started playing tennis at age 8. He played multiple sports in high school including swimming, soccer, baseball, football, basketball, and tennis. In high school, he was All-Region in tennis and football and played football in college. Since college, he has given private tennis lesson’s off and on for the past 10 years and officiated High School Basketball for 13 years. In addition to being our new head girls tennis coach, Barber is also currently the boys tennis coach at Payson Junior High School.
When we asked Coach Barber to describe his vision for the future of the girls tennis program, he said, “I have been watching the Payson High Tennis Program the last few years and when the opportunity arose to be a part of it, I couldn’t move fast enough. The talent, dedication, and discipline of our student athletes in Payson are amazing and I can’t wait to see them continue to rise to their full potential. I love the quote from Carlson Gracie (professional MMA fighter) that says, ‘If you want to be a lion, you have to train with lions!’ I’m excited to be a lion. Meowing time is over, it’s time to ROAR.”
We wish the outgoing Coach McDougal the very best of success in her future endeavors. And we are excited to welcome Coach Barber into the Lion family.