Stockton University Athletics

Phil Birnbaum has been coaching tennis for over four decades and he is in his 13th season at Stockton. Birnbaum built the Stockton program from scratch after his hiring upon its creation in 2000. Since then, he has won over 70 percent of his matches with a 116-45 record as the only coach in the team’s history.

Last season, Stockton went 12-3 to reach double digits for the first time since 2009 and Birnbaum was rewarded with NJAC Coach of the Year and USTA District Coach of the Year honors. Birnbaum’s team rebounded with a 9-7 record two seasons ago after a rebuilding campaign in 2010 that was the only time in his tenure that the Ospreys finished below .500. He reached a milestone with his 100th win at Stockton on October 8, 2011 with a 6-3 victory over Kean.

Stockton started the 2008 and 2009 seasons each with five straight wins before finishing 11-4 and 11-6 respectively. In 2007, Birnbaum led Stockton to its highest win total ever with a 15-3 record. The Ospreys again began the season with five consecutive wins and later ended the slate with a 4-1 mark on their spring trip to Hilton Head. The 15 wins surpassed the previous high of 13 victories in 2006 when Birnbaum coached Stockton to a 13-2 record. In 2005, the Ospreys went 6-2 in a rain-plagued campaign that included three cancellations. 

Birnbaum coached the team to its second consecutive one-loss season in 2004 with an 11-1 mark and a third straight second-place finish in the NJAC. The Ospreys posted a 9-1 record in 2003 and Birnbaum was rewarded with NJAC Coach of the Year and USPTA Middle States Coach of the Year honors. 

That success came following a 2002 campaign in which Stockton went 7-2 overall and tied for second place in its first year of NJAC competition. Birnbaum guided the fledgling Ospreys to a 5-5 mark in their inaugural season of 2001. 

Birnbaum created the boys tennis program at Ocean City High School in 1970 and later took over the OCHS girls program in 1986. Overall, he won over 650 matches, more than 20 league or division titles and eight South Jersey championships. Birnbaum is a member of the NJSIAA Hall of Fame, South Jersey Tennis Association Hall of Fame and Ocean City High School Hall of Fame. 

Birnbaum was a nationally ranked player at Glassboro State who earned all-conference honors and served as a team captain. He has built one of the largest community tennis programs on the East Coast in over 30 years as the head professional and tennis director for the City of Ocean City.