MEET OUR TEAM
SYDNEY BWALYA - PRESIDENT
Mr. Sydney Bwalya is former professional tennis player from Zambia in Africa. Mr. Bwalya began playing the game of tennis at the age of 8, and, coached by his father Adrian, he emerged as one of the top junior player in Africa. He reached No. 295 in the world International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings as a teenager, and became a stalwart on the Zambian Davis Cup team from 1995-2001, including stints as his home country’s team playing captain in 1998 and 2001. Before being named to the 1997 Davis Cup team, he won both the Zambian Closed and Open Championships.
To this day, Mr. Bwalya remains Zambia’s winningest Davis Cup player ever, with 22 match wins in singles and 10 in doubles. He reached as high as the 1100s in the ATP rankings, playing in several ITF Futures and Challenger events in and around Africa.
Mr. Bwalya moved to the United States in 2000, taking a tennis scholarship at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas at age 25. In his first season at BCCC, Mr. Bwalya helped the school to a second-place finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Championships. Mr. Bwalya was named to the ITA/NJCAA All-American team in 2000 and 2001.
Two years later, he transferred to Washburn University in Topeka, and played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Ichabods. Mr. Bwalya helped the Ichabods qualify for their first NCAA Division II National Championships.
Mr. Bwalya was a graduate assistant at Washburn University from 2003-2004. Prior to Washburn, he served two seasons as tennis director for the Joel Ross Summer Tennis Camp in Kent, Connecticut.
Mr. Bwalya returned to Barton County Community College (BCCC) in April 2004 to assume the head coaching role of both the men’s and women’s teams. During his four seasons at Barton, Mr. Bwalya turned the Cougar tennis program into a formidable force. He guided the men’s tennis team to its eighth consecutive KJCCC Regional win and national qualifications. The 2006-08 women’s squads were ranked No. 6 in the nation––the highest ranking in Cougar tennis history.
Following the 2008 season, Mr. Bwalya received the Coach of the Year Award from Intercollegiate Tennis Athletics (ITA.) That same year, he was inducted into the Barton Sports Hall of Fame.
Mr Bwalya is currently a tennis professional at the TBARM Racquet Club in Dallas. Before assuming his Tennis Pro position, he was on the athletics staff at McPherson College in Kansas, where he was the head men’s and women’s tennis coach for two years.
Off the court, Mr Bwalya has been involved with several charitable organizations throughout his career, including the Love-40 charity, for which he is a co-founder. He is also a founder of the College Placement Services International (CPSI), a college recruiting service and ESS Bee Sports, LLC, a sports management company.
Mr. Bwalya has his Bachelor’s degree in general studies and a diploma in leadership studies from Fort Hayes State University, Hays, Kansas.
BOARD MEMBERS:
- President – Sydney Bwalya
- Secretary/Treasurer – Anna Nallon
- Charles Tembo – First Vice President
- Sam Wrinkle– Second Vice President
- Bob Raedisch – Advisory
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE - ZAMBIA
