BATON ROUGE – Tristan Venables of Perth, Australia, will join the LSU women’s tennis team as an assistant coach starting July 1, head coach Julia S. Sell announced on Thursday.
“I am very excited to welcome Tristan to the Tiger family,” said Sell. “Tristan has been working under legendary coach Manny Diaz and has a full understanding of what it takes to be a championship program which will add immediate value to LSU. His background in player development and his strong work ethic will complement our staff perfectly and provide our team with the best training possible.”
Venables comes to LSU from the University of Georgia, where he served as a volunteer coach for the men’s tennis team for two years. In 2014, he helped lead the Bulldogs to an 18-8 overall record with an 11-1 SEC record that earned them the title of SEC regular season champions. The team finished the year with a final ranking of No. 9.
“It is a privilege to have this opportunity at LSU and be part of this great athletic tradition in Baton Rouge,” said Venables. “I am excited to bring my experience working under coach Manuel Diaz and coach Will Glenn at UGA to the Tiger family. I look forward to helping head coach Julia Sell and coach Mike Sell make this program a true success in the coming years, both on and off the court.”
Prior to coaching at Georgia, Venables spent 13 years as a head coach at Wembley Downs Tennis Club in Perth, Western Australia. He played State League from 1999-2012 and was captain of the team in the National League (now Asian Tennis League) Finals held at the 2012 Australian Open.
Venables played on court 1 in both singles and doubles as a freshman at the University of Denver in the spring of 1998. While there, the Australian was voted MVP by his teammates and head coach Rob Oertel.
Venables then moved back to Australia, where he earned a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts degree from Edith Cowan University in 2009. He met his wife, Jessica, on Georgia’s campus in 2005.