HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana head women's tennis coach Jason Hayes will serve as the Chair of the 2011 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships, scheduled for May 19-30 at The Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University.

In preparations for the championships, Hayes traveled this week to Palo Alto, Calif. for a site visit to check the progress at Stanford's first-class facility that features 17 courts. The Taube Tennis Center has previously hosted four NCAA Women's Tennis Championships, and the first ever combined men's and women's NCAA Championships in 2006.

“Stanford is an ideal place to host the championships,” Hayes commented. “It's location, staff and facilities are among the best in the nation. It's a great honor to be selected at the Chair of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships. I'm excited about this year and can't wait to get started.”

Hayes is entering his 10th season at the helm of the Southeastern tennis program and has led the Lady Lions to a combined six Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles, as well as three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2005-07. The Paris, Ky. native has spent the last four years as a member of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championship Committee.

During the past four years, Hayes has worked the NCAA Championships at Georgia, Texas A&M and Tulsa. He also has served as a site representative at the University of California, which hosted first and second round competition each of the past three years.

“When I was first appointed to this committee, I thought it was a dream come true,” Hayes commented. “It has definitely been a great experience, but there is also a lot of work that goes into being a part of the committee.”

The committee is made up of two representatives from each of the six regions. The committee members are selected for four-year cycles with new region representatives selected at the end of each cycle. Each May, Hayes and the other Championship Committee members meet in Indianapolis to select and place the 64-team field – a process that takes 10-12 hours.

Both tiring and rewarding, the experience of being on the committee has also seen Hayes receive some humorous responses from some of the country's more rabid tennis fans.

“When the draw comes out each year, half the teams are happy,” Hayes said. “The other half's fans are not and oftentimes they'll track down the committee members' e-mail addresses and send us their thoughts. A few years ago, I received over 300 e-mails from one school. I kept most of them, because they made me laugh, but I also certainly sympathized with their frustrations.”

Despite the occasional flood of e-mails and marathon selection meetings, Hayes has greatly enjoyed his part in the process and is excited to end his four-year cycle with the opportunity to chair the Women's Tennis Championships.

“The best part of being on the committee is all the friends I have made,” Hayes commented. “To be elected as the NCAA Championships chair in my last year on the committee is a great thrill in large part because my friends and peers on the committee were the ones who nominated and voted.”