Tennis is a well known sport across the United States. For English teacher and new tennis coach Megan Hinton, it’s been more than just a sport her whole life.

Hinton grew up in Franklin, Tenn., outside of Nashville. Throughout middle school and high school, she played competition tennis, but turned to intramural tennis in college.

With a Master’s degree in English from University of South Carolina, Hinton was excited to move to Charleston. As she started interviewing schools, she was drawn to Wando.

“I just loved the size of Wando,” Hinton said. “It was pretty impressive to see such a big school that’s so successful.”

Growing up, Hinton was interested in teaching as a possible career choice.

“As I got to high school, I realized that high school was the grade level I wanted to teach, and English is just my favorite subject, “ she said. “I used to teach my Beanie Babies when I was younger, which is kinda an embarrassing thing to admit, but it’s true.”

While her passion for teaching brought her to Wando, her interest and prior experience in tennis put her in the position of Head Coach for varsity girls’ tennis team, with this being her first year.

“I’ve always loved tennis,” Hinton said, “I think it’s a great thing. It’s one of those sports like golf that you can play your whole life, so it’s just a nice kind of comforting place when you’ve been playing since you were little, so it’s nice to get back on the court. I mean, I just kind of see it in the court so it’s a nice place to feel relaxed and I love watching tennis.”

Being someone who’s played tennis for a large part of her life, Hinton has had some embarrassing things happen on the court.

“I’ve played some girls who are like the screamers and the yellers, you know what I mean? It’s just awkward. You hit a good shot and they’re like “RAAAAAAAHHHH!”, and you just feel uncomfortable. I’m just not good in those situations, so that was probably the worst thing. It was just so awkward.” Hinton said. ”I embarrass myself a lot, swinging and missing is probably the most embarrassing thing. Because you sit there and say ‘I got this” and the ball just flies by, so that’s pretty embarrassing.”

The girls’ tennis team is off to a great start with an undefeated record of 4-0.

“I love the girls on the team, even though it’s my first year and I just started coaching here, I really love it. They’re just great to be around, I’m always laughing when I’m around them,” Hinton said, “but they’re also hard-workers, so when it’s time to buckle down they can do that as well.”