by Ted Ryan

The first year serving as an assistant college tennis coach, Amy Berkman found the transition a challenging one. The urge to play after stellar careers at Rice Memorial High School and Middlebury College was nearly overwhelming, but her new role relegated her to the sideline.

"Last year was a little hard," said Berkman, a second-year assistant to St. Michael's College women's tennis coach Greg Cluff. "I always wanted to be a player," she said of last season, "but now I'm a little further removed. I'm only a few years older than the players on the team and now I try to help them develop as a coach rather than as a peer. "I've always loved to coach. I've been working with younger kids for awhile and it's a chance to stay involved in the game," said Berkman, calling from Florida recently during SMC's annual spring trip. "I really love it. I get to go on the trips with them and watch them grow as players."

As a player, Berkman is among the finest to grow up in Vermont. A Shelburne native, Berkman excelled at Rice, winning the high school girls' individual state title as a junior and again as a senior. As a team, Rice advanced to the state semifinals one year.

During her four years at Middlebury College, the Panthers qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament three times, including a 5-4 loss to Amherst in the national championship match. Berkman, then a freshman, was Middlebury's No. 6 singles. "I just really loved the campus and their tennis team was strong, so it was really fun playing there," recalled Berkman.

A biochemistry major at Middlebury, Berkman took a position in the biochem lab at the University of Vermont after graduation. She also knew St. Michael's had a vacancy for an assistant coach. "I knew Greg, so it worked out," said Berkman, who had been instructing young players at Burlington Tennis Club. "He's great to work for. He's really positive and fun and he has so much experience with coaching. "With younger kids, it's more technique and skill development. At college, there's a lot more strategy," said Berkman, explaining one major difference in coaching at the youth and college levels. "I help run practices and I usually do all the fitness stuff with them," said Berkman of her duties as an assistant.

In her first season at St. Michael's, she helped the Purple Knights to a 14-7 record and SMC's second consecutive NCAA appearance. This year's team should also contend for an NCAA berth. "This team is very strong, probably the strongest team the school's ever had," Berkman said. "It'll be so exciting to see what happens." The Knights recently returned from a Florida swing, where the challenging competition prepared St. Michael's for the Northeast-10 Conference spring season.

Though Berkman enjoys coaching tennis and hopes to continue at some level, she plans to leave St. Michael's after this season to pursue a master's degree in California. While working at UVM, she also took classes and developed an interest in psychology. Berkman hopes to combine her biochemistry background with psychology to work in the field of energy medicine, a relatively new field. Berkman has also started running since leaving college. "I love it," she said. "I'm training for the Burlington marathon." She ran the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington last year, turning in a respectable time of around four hours. "It was good for a first time, but hopefully I'll improve this year," she said.

Berkman's younger sister, Gaby, is also an outstanding tennis player, competing for William & Smith. Gaby had an outstanding freshman year but missed last season with a major injury. She spent the fall semester abroad and has recently rejoined the W&S team but hasn't cracked the lineup yet. "She's physically okay, but she's just getting into point play and strategy again," Amy Berkman said.

Do you know a Shelburne student-athelte competing in college sports or a Shelburne athlete excelleing in his or her area of interest? Let me know at TedryanVT@aol.com.