Simon Earnshaw begins his eleventh year as head coach of the highly successful Armstrong Atlantic State University tennis programs.

Earnshaw directed the Pirate tennis teams to back-to-back NCAA Division II National Championships in 2009, becoming just the second program in tennis history to accomplish that feat. Each team responded from an in-season loss to capture the crown as the Pirate men overcame a 5-4 deficit to conference rival GCSU to defeat Barry, 5-4, in the national championship match, completing a 30-1 season. The women, meanwhile, suffered a 5-4 loss at Lynn University - a match the led 4-0 - during the regular season but came back to avenge that loss with a 5-2 win over Lynn in the national championship, capping a 28-1 season.

In 2008, Earnshaw led both the men's and women's tennis teams to NCAA Division II National Championships in the same season, the first time that has happened in NCAA since 2003. The Pirate men completed an undefeated season, going 31-0 and defeating Barry, 5-0, for the school's first NCAA National Championship in a men's sport. The Lady Pirates, meanwhile, went 32-1 en route to the program's fourth national title, defeating Lynn, 5-2, in the final. 

The dual victory culminated a feat of two different approaches with his tennis programs. With the women's team, simply maintaining the status quo as one of the premier DII programs in the nation was not enough as Earnshaw had led the Lady Pirates to two NCAA titles in four seasons, adding to the program's first national championships back in the mid-1990s.

The men, meanwhile, steadily improved each season since Earnshaw took over the program. Each of the prior three seasons to the back-to-back run, the Pirates have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation, until breaking through in 2008 with the program's first ever No. 1 national ranking and eventually the National Championship win. AASU has also won 61 of its last 62 matches during the two-year stretch.

The AASU women's tennis team has enjoyed unparalleled success over the last six seasons under Earnshaw. The Lady Pirates have won 177 of 182 matches played in this stretch, including the three National Championships in 2005, 2008 and 2009. AASU has also not lost a home match in Savannah since 2003, a span of 78 consecutive matches.

In seven out of the last eight years, the Lady Pirates have featured the top-ranked singles player in the nation - freshman Sona Novakova went undefeated with a perfect 23-0 dual match singles record in her debut season with AASU in 2009. She followed in the footsteps of Iuliia Stupak (2007, 2008), Luisa Cowper (2006) and Zsofia Golopencza (2002, 2003, 2004).

AASU also featured the No. 2-ranked singles player in the nation on the men's side in 2009 with freshman Eudaldo Bonet, who also captured the ITA DII National Singles title in the fall of 2008 spending several weeks at No. 1 in the ITA DII rankings.

Earnshaw succeeded Andreas Koth as the Pirates' head coach in 1999-2000 and has led the AASU women to eight PBC Championships and nine NCAA Quarterfinal appearances with five national championship match appearances. His women's players have earned 60 ITA All-America honors in ten seasons and he coached the 2004 NCAA/ITA Division II Senior of the Year, Zsofi Golopencza, 2006 NCAA/ITA Division II Senior of the Year, Luisa Cowper and 2008 NCAA/ITA Division II Senior of the Year Iuliia Stupak. He also coached the 2000 NCAA/ITA Division II Rookie of the Year in Stephanie Kovacic, the 2001 NCAA/ITA Division II Rookie of the Year [Golopencza] and the 2009 Rookie of the Year in Novakova. In addition, three players have been named ITA's National "Player to Watch" - Luisa Cowper in 2004, Dziyana Nazaruk in 2005 and Iuliia Stupak in 2006.

He has won three ITA National Women's Coach of the Year awards, in 2009, 2006 and 2004, and Earnshaw has five times been named the ITA Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Coach of the Year and seven times earned the Peach Belt Conference Women's Tennis Coach of the Year award.

As head coach of the men's squad, Earnshaw has directed the Pirates to the last five PBC Championships in 2005-2009, as well as winning the title in 2000, and made ten trips to the NCAA Championships. He was named the ITA Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Coach of the Year in 2005, 2008 and 2009, and his men's players have earned 20 ITA All-America honors in ten seasons, including Davor Zink, the 2006 ITA National "Player To Watch," and Bonet, the 2009 Rookie of the Year.

Both Pirate tennis teams have also maintained a high level of excellence in the classroom, earning ITA All-Academic Team honors from 2004 to 2009, along with numerous ITA Scholar-Athlete awards. The 2006 women's team had an unprecedented all eight members earn ITA Scholar-Athlete honors. Both the AASU men's and women's tennis programs have also advanced to the NCAA Championships for 15 straight years.

Earnshaw served as the Pirates' assistant coach in 1998-99 and was previously an assistant coach at Georgia College & State University for two seasons.

At GC&SU, Earnshaw helped coach the women's team to consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship appearances. Both the men's and women's teams were ranked in the Top 15 during his two seasons in Milledgeville and seven players earned All-America status.

Earnshaw competed for GC&SU from 1992-1996 and helped the Bobcats to four seasons in the Top 10 of the ITA Division II National Rankings. He received his Bachelor's of Science degree in chemistry in 1996 and completed his Master's of Education in health and physical education in 1998.

In his native England, Simon is a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) qualified coach at the national level. He also worked extensively for the Nick Bolletieri Sport Academy during the summer months of 1993 to 1998.

Simon and his wife, Nichole, have two daughters, Abigail (9) and Ella (7), and two sons, Luke (6) and Lleyton (1). The family resides in Savannah.

David Secker begins his fourth season as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Armstrong Atlantic in 2009.

A former four-year standout for the Pirates, Secker has assisted head coach Simon Earnshaw during the last three seasons, helping to lead the Pirates and Lady Pirates to back-to-back NCAA Division II National Championships. He was named the DII National Assistant Coach of the Year for 2009, for both the men's and women's teams, becoming the first recipient of the award by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

As a member of the Pirates, Secker compiled a career 80-38 singles record and a 48-38 doubles record in his four seasons, including a career-best 29-6 singles mark in 2005, helping AASU to its second Peach Belt Conference title (as well as its first Peach Belt Conference tournament title) and a third-place NCAA Championships finish.

Secker received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Armstrong Atlantic State in 2007 and is currently pursuing his master's degree in sports medicine.