If you spend time talking with 45-year-old Ben Lamanna, Bowdoin women’s tennis coach, and read about his tennis background, you’ll think, “Wow, that guy is a natural. I hope Bowdoin can keep him.”

So, you might ask, how did a coach like Ben get to be a coach like Ben?

Ben started taking tennis lessons as a sixth grader in Barrington, Rhode Island.

“The coach could be rough on us, but he was very good technically, especially in teaching us how to play doubles,” he said. “I loved it right away.”

Ben’s love for the game and skill at doubles contributed to his winning the Rhode Island High School Doubles Championship his freshman year.

“I was never at the top in singles, but I always wanted to shoot higher.”

Ben decided to go to Bates where he could play for Paul Gastonguay.

“Paul was — and is — a terrific coach,” Ben said. “He connected all the dots — the tennis skills, the mental focus, how to keep getting better. I played on the No. 1 doubles team for Bates, but I mainly focused on helping the team improve. We had a very diverse team with players from South Africa, Bulgaria and Estonia, so team-building was a big part of the coaching process.”

After graduation, Ben spent some time at ESPN working on the statistics team, which provided information to the announcers at the French Open and the U.S. Open, among other events.

Gastonguay had the wisdom to hire Ben as his assistant coach. Ben handled a variety of coaching responsibilities for the Bobcats, a Top 20 NCAA Division III tennis program. Moreover, he coached NCAA National Singles Champion, Will Bow-Wigaard.

Ben’s success at Bates earned him a spot as head coach of both men’s and women’s tennis at Brandeis when he was only 25 years old. During his 14-year tenure at Brandeis, Ben assumed many administrative responsibilities, while developing both the men’s and women’s teams into nationally ranked tennis programs. He was named UAA Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2019 and UAA Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in 2019. Ben’s assistant coaches also earned post-season honors, confirming his skill as a mentor to coaches as well as players. Indeed, three of his assistant coaches have gone on to become head coaches.

In 2019, Ben accepted the position as head women’s tennis coach at Bowdoin, where he has cultivated a winning team culture focused on relationships, leadership and work ethic. The results speak for themselves: In 2025, he was named ITA Division III Women’s National Coach of the Year. He has coached four All-NESCAC and All-ITA Academic Teams as well as five NESCAC 1st Team selections and seven 2nd Team selections.

When asked what made Ben a good coach, sophomore Suzanne Pogoreleca explains, “He brings out the best in us by focusing on mental toughness. We do a lot of meditations and we learn to slow down between points.”

Ben has also demonstrated his commitment to serving the community. He established a community project with ACEing Autism in Brunswick as well as a community project with the IELD program at Portland Public Schools.

Ben has no plans to leave Bowdoin, as he and his wife Lauren, a speech pathologist, and their two children (Gus, age 9, and Rosie, age 11) have made a good life in Portland.

Not surprisingly, Ben Lamanna has a clear goal for the future: win the Division III national title.

“We’re building little by little, and we’ll get there.”

Something tells me they’ll reach that goal in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.