Chad Young named 2026 Bennie Purcell Coach of the Year

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – USTA Kentucky announced its 2026 awards class this week, honoring another strong year of tennis in the Bluegrass.

The list featured 29 award winners, including South Warren High School head coach Chad Young who was named the 2026 Bennie Purcell Coach of the Year.

Young has led South Warren tennis since the school opened in 2010, and the latest year of play saw great success from both the boys and girls squads.

On the girls side, it was a record-setting campaign.

The Lady Spartans finished as runners-up in the KHSAA State Tennis Championships with the best record the program has ever seen at 25-4.

South, as a team, won the 4th Region girls championship, defeating Greenwood 3-1.

The team included 4th Region singles winner Cesca Poole and 4th Region doubles champions Peyton Lemily and Paisley Harris, who won the trophy by facing off with fellow teammates Joanna Zhang and Ravnoor Dhaliwal.

The regional singles title marked the first for the school while the doubles win was the eighth in program history.

Each of the five girls listed above advanced into the Round of 16 of the KHSAA State Tennis Championships.

The Spartan boys team rounded out 2026 as the 4th Region runner-up for the third consecutive season.

Haris Shahbaz won the program’s first 4th Region boys singles title, continuing his strong year all the way to the state semifinals, the farthest the team has ever seen an individual advance.

Young and the rest of the award winners will be recognized in Louisville on January 30, 2027.