The official athletics site of Gwynedd Mercy University.

Coach Jim Holt came to Gwynedd Mercy with the intentions of turning the Griffin Tennis Programs around after inheriting a team that had gone 4-48 in the previous five years. It’s safe to say after winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference Championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 with the women, that Coach Holt has established himself as one of the top coaches in NCAA Division III.

His teams have since gone a staggering 148-14 in conference play for a stunning 91% success rate (228-53, 81% overall). He also has the most wins in conference history.

Holt's players have accumulated over 100 combined all conference selections, (by far the most in conference history) including three player of the year Awards, and four rookie of the year awards. Coach Holt has also won a total of 11 coach of the year honors in his 16 years (two of which were major USTA Coach of the Year awards), with one being the USTA Middle States College Coach of the Year in 2009. The highly prestigious USTA award was also given to Holt, who was the top voted coach in the Middle States area (which consists of four states). The USTA also awarded him the Philadelphia Area Tennis District Coach of the Year for the 2010 year. Coach Holt has also consistently acquired the top assistants every year in order to provide the most comprehensive program available.

Holt has attained the highest ranking issued by the Professional Tennis Registry, and currently is a teaching professional at Philadelphia Sports Clubs, one of the largest tennis/fitness clubs on the East Coast.

Jim has a M.S. in Special Education and works as a supervisor/teacher at Wordsworth Academy in Fort Washington, Pa.

Coach Holt is also the Director of “Touch of Tennis” special needs annual tennis clinic, a nationally awarded program and was an active member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters for 10 years. This is a program that Holt founded and runs, just recently won the one of the most prestigious awards in the entire country by the USTA, going to Washington D.C. to accept his impressive award in front of about 1,000 USTA members.