If you’ve ever seen a varsity team playing on the tennis courts here, you’ve seen the work Devil-of-the-Day winner Coach KB puts into Victor.
Krystina Barnum has been a tennis player since she was seven years old, learning it from her dad. She played division 1 tennis in college, getting a full ride her Sophomore through Senior years.
After college, she began her coaching career at a division three college. The intense focus on tennis above all else in D1 did not apply to D3, where academics came first. She adjusted her expectations and loved her experiences coaching college kids.
Despite coaching at Victor and the Tennis Club of Rochester, she still makes time for her family. A Webster native, KB and her family moved to Victor about ten years ago. Her three kids are students in the district and she is close to her parents. The support of her family allows her to coach full time without worrying about rides and babysitters.
Family is very important to KB. She’s very close with her parents, husband and children. She is very close with her tennis players and loves seeing their growth, feeling that “they’re kinda like my own kids, they become my family.” Her favorite tennis player, Roger Federer, made a point to always travel with his family as much as he could.
Team, like family, is very important to her. The varsity tennis teams work hard on and off the court to build trust and a sense of community. Whether it be a team dinner or icebreakers on a long bus ride, everybody gets to know and care for each other. Players are always cheering for one another and staying supportive no matter the outcome. It’s all thanks to KB, who explained “I think it strengthens everyone. You don’t win as an individual, you win as a team.”
Intensity is something constant in KB’s coaching style. Spirits and weightlifting keep her players on their toes. Some drills involve a lot of running, hard shots or repetition. It’s hard, but always worth it. Even when the team is tired, “as a team, as a unit, as a whole, we all find ways to build each other up and push through the tough times.”
As a coach for girls in the fall and boys in the spring, as well as off season camps in the winter and summer for both groups, KB is always working to improve the Victor tennis team. Sometimes the girls focus too much on consistency instead of point winning shots, while the boys can be too preoccupied with big shots than the simpler percentage tennis. Coaching is all about figuring out how to help a player be the best they can, even if it can be trying to strike a happy medium.
This season, KB has one goal for both the boys and the girls teams. “I definitely want to get a sectional title.” Despite the competition, Coach KB has faith in the abilities of her players to win.
