Westwood Middle School, which premiered tennis as a varsity sport this spring, will have a new coach in 2016. Melissa Askins has been tabbed as the replacement for Justin Winton following Coach Winton’s resignation. Coach Winton, who is taking a job in Murfreesboro, brought to life the boys and girls tennis program this past spring which saw strong participation numbers and an improvement in individual skills throughout the season.
Coach Askins, a Language Arts teacher at Westwood Middle School, is excited for the opportunity to lead the young program. “Tennis is a lifelong sport and I am excited to see it grow in this area at the younger ages” said Askins. While this will be her first coaching assignment at the varsity level, Askins has been the Student Council sponsor at Westwood for the last few years and is starting a Writing Club in the coming school year. Askins, who is originally from West Virginia, played tennis in an adult career league in Ohio prior to moving to Manchester in 2007. Askins and her husband Steve have a 9 year old son, Jon.
