June 13, 2001

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y.- Jeffrey Bloomberg has been selected to head the women's tennis program at Siena College. The appointment came after Bloomberg led the Saints to their most successful season in several years as interim head coach this past spring. Bloomberg stepped in last February just three weeks before the team was to take the court on its annual trip to Florida.

Bloomberg was Head Coach at Russell Sage College in Troy, NY when he received a call from Joyce Eggleston, Assistant Athletic Director at Siena asking him if he would help out while the Saints searched for a new head coach. "I wasn't interested in leaving Sage," Bloomberg said. "I was in the middle of my 4th year and very happy with the progress of the tennis program and with being a part of the Sage family. I wouldn't have even considered Joyce's request in other years because I would have been committed to preparing the Sage team for its annual spring trip to South Carolina. But, the spring trip had just been cancelled and the time opened up for me to be able to help out."

"On paper it looked like a lost cause. The program had finished 10th and last in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) the past two years, completed the recently ended fall season with a 1-6 record, just lost its 3rd coach in as many years and had only 3 weeks to prepare for its annual spring trip to Florida," Bloomberg recalled. "That was until I met the players, they were eager to go. The women had taken it upon themselves to prepare for the Florida trip and the spring season. Under the tutelage of the Siena strength & conditioning coach, they were working out everyday so they would be in shape when the new coach arrived. All they wanted was an opportunity to get on the court and show everybody that they were ready to play tennis. But, without a coach, they wouldn't have the opportunity. How could you walk away from them and say, `sorry, I can't help you?"

Jeff made arrangements with the Siena and Sage athletic departments to guide both programs through the spring season. It was a daunting task but with careful planning and a lot of "running around" he was able to do it. Three days a week he would arrive at Siena at 7AM to practice with the women who class schedules precluded them from practicing later in the day. Then, off to meet with the Sage team for afternoon practice and then back to Siena for the late day practice with the rest of the team. On the weekends Bloomberg would have both teams practice together. On the two days when there was no practice, he would travel 112 miles each way to White Plains where he would work 11 hours a day as a dental consultant for Urban Dental Management, an organization committed to providing dental care for children. U.D.M. was good enough to allow him to schedule his time so he could satisfy his commitments both to them and the tennis programs.

At their first meeting the team and the coach set 2 objectives: The first was to use the Florida trip as "spring training", an opportunity for the coach and he team to get to know each other and for each player to see what she had to work on during the three weeks between Florida and the spring season. The second was for each team member to be a better tennis player at the end of the season than she was at the beginning.

After a slow start the women ended the spring season with a rush, winning 4 of their last 5 matches to capture 5th place in the MAAC. "The players were pumped. They all had reached their goal, they were better tennis players and next season they would work to be even better," the coach concluded.

Siena asked Jeff to stay on. Leaving Sage would not be easy. He knew the Siena players were committed to the program and to him as he was committed to them but where did the athletic departments stand? After several days of discussion with the athletic department an agreement was reached and Bloomberg made the switch to the Saints.

"We are very excited to have Jeff on board," said Director of Athletics, John D'Argenio. "In the short time he was with the team, we saw drastic improvements, and his commitment to the student-athletes goes above and beyond the call of duty."

"I made a commitment to the Siena women's tennis program and the athletic department will back that commitment," the new coach said. "Together, we have agreed to make every effort to continue to build on the progress made this past spring."

Bloomberg began his coaching career at the high school level. He spent four years as boy's tennis coach at Chatham Central School and three years as the girl's tennis coach at Columbia High School. At Chatham, his teams compiled an impressive record of 56-10, went undefeated in 1994, won three Patroon Conference championships and captured one sectional Championship. At Columbia, he took over a program that had not won more than one match in any of the previous 4 years and led them to sectional quarterfinals in his second season.

In his years at Russell Sage College, Bloomberg took a team that was 3-9 his 1st season to a 6-4 record his 2nd. Under his leadership, the program inaugurated a spring season including an annual southern trip, participated in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Small College Regional Championships for the first time in the program's history and was the only Division III program to send team members to the John J Rooney, New York State Women's Collegiate Championships. The program also produced a New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association All-State Selection for three consecutive years.

After leaving the scholastic ranks, the new Siena women's coach began his collegiate coaching career as head tennis coach for both women and men at Division II St. Rose College. While there he helped both the men's and women's #1 players improve their records from 3-11 and 2-10 in his 1st season to 13-3 and 9-3 respectively in his 2nd.

Coach Bloomberg is a United States Professional Tennis Association(USPTA) certified teaching professional, a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and has attended the Van Der Meer Tennis University in Hilton Head, South Carolina. A retired dentist, Bloomberg is an active volunteer for the Leukemia Society of America and Habitat for Humanity. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Adult Day Services Association. Jeff lives in Old Chatham with his wife of 38 years, Joan who is Deputy Director of the Columbia County Department of Human Services. They have two adult daughters, Eliza and Anne.