Stephen Perkins joined the Occidental coaching staff in 2022 as the Head Coach for the Men’s and Women’s Tennis Programs. In his first year coaching the Tigers, Perkins helped lead both the men's and women's tennis teams to DIII national rankings and was named SCIAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.
Prior to Occidental, Perkins coached tennis at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida where he worked with highly-ranked junior players pursuing collegiate and professional careers. While coaching at IMG, Perkins helped coach multiple IMG student athletes to International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior titles.
Perkins’ coaching experience also includes working in his hometown of Seattle, Washington as an instructor at Amy Yee Tennis Center and serving as Associate Head Coach of the Nathan Hale High School Boys and Girls Tennis Teams from 2016 to 2018.
Prior to coaching tennis, Perkins taught English internationally in Peru and Colombia from 2014-2016. While teaching abroad, he also competed for Club Faraday (Arequipa, Peru) in the Peruvian Professional Basketball League.
As an Occidental student-athlete, Perkins was a four year starter in both singles and doubles for the Tigers, compiling a 51-21 dual match record in singles over his four years and serving as team captain his senior year. He also played on the Occidental Varsity Basketball team in 2012-2013. Perkins graduated from Occidental with a degree in Spanish Literary Studies and Economics in 2013 and also has a M.A. in Higher Education from Boston College (2020).
