Steve Baum '11 Named Goucher College's Head Women’s Tennis Coach

TOWSON, Md. - The Goucher College women's tennis program will be headed by a name familiar to anyone in the Goucher community for the upcoming season, as Steve Baum '11 has agreed to be the next head coach of the Gophers.

Baum will take the reigns of the program from his mother, Sally, who left the head coaching position of the Gophers in July to take over as Goucher's full-time Associate Athletic Director after coaching the program for 36 seasons.

"I am extremely proud to take over as the Head Women's Tennis Coach at Goucher and to keep the Baum name moving forward with this program," said Baum. "Goucher helped make me who I am today and my passion for the school has not changed since my graduation in 2011. This is in an excellent position to succeed both in and out of the Landmark Conference. I look forward to working with all the current Gophers as well bringing in top recruits to keep this program moving forward in the years to come."

"While it is incredibly special that Coach Baum will be taking over this program from Sally, this hire was a simple choice because he has the skills, enthusiasm, and competitive energy to lead women's tennis forward," said Interim Director of Athletics Andrew Wu. "Steve speaks passionately about Goucher, and I believe his ability to articulate the value of the Goucher experience will be a huge asset in bringing top student-athletes to campus."

Baum comes back to Goucher from a stint as a Junior Development Director & Tennis Professional at Genesis Health Clubs in Overland Park, Kansas since June of 2017. There, he was responsible for growth and management of 12 and Under Junior Development Program and Managed Junior Team Tennis (JTT) teams for Genesis, among other duties.

Before moving to Kansas, Baum was the head women's tennis coach at Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, W.Va. for three seasons (2014-2017). There, he coached the Battlers NCAA Division II program, leading the team to a pair of third-place finishes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Baum also mentored three All-Conference selections and had a student-athlete named to the ITA All-Academic Team, as well.

Baum began his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach for both the men's and women's programs at Regis College in Weston, Mass. from 2012 through 2014. There, both the men's and women's teams won consecutive NECC Conference Championships (2013, 2014).

Baum entered the coaching ranks after a three-sport career as a student-athlete at Goucher, where he graduated in December of 2011 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

In all, Baum was a four-year letterwinner on the men's tennis team (2007-2011), eventually becoming team captain, while also earning three letters on the swim team.

In his final semester (Fall 2011), Baum joined the men's soccer team at Goucher and went on to become the teams starting goalie, eventually earning Landmark Conference Defensive Athlete of the Week honors during the year. In all, he started 10 matches, made 82 saves, and had a goals against average of 1.82 in his only season on the soccer team.

Baum, who was also the Josephine F. Fiske Award recipient in 2011, will begin his duties at Goucher immediately. For more on the Goucher College women's tennis team, follow the Gophers all season long at athletics.goucher.edu.

--GOPHERS--