There is a fine line between a team and a family. But for Idaho’s newest tennis coaches, that line does not exist.
Abid Akbar, the men’s tennis coach, welcomed his brother and new women’s coach Babar Akbar to Moscow this season.
The story of the Akbar brothers begins in Pakistan. They spent most of their childhood outside, finding ways to stay active. Babar said he remembers friends and neighbors coming over to play soccer or cricket on any given day.
“We were very lucky to grow up in a big house where we could play pretty much any sport,” Abid said. “Our father was like us in a way where he was almost as sporty as us. He would be out there with us, playing all the time.”
Their father, Mohammad Akbar, introduced the brothers to tennis early on. Mohammad came from a tennis-heavy background, competing at Clemson during college and professional tournaments. For a brief time, he ran the Pakistan Tennis Federation and coached on the Pakistan Davis Cup team.
“A lot of his family kept it as a recreation, but he was so passionate that he pretty much spent his whole life in it and around it, which is kind of what we’ve gotten ourselves into,” Abid said.
Babar and Abid were not the only athletic Akbar boys. Their brother, Ahmed also found a knack for tennis, but decided to take a different route.
“He’s a celebrity back home,” Abid said. “He started as a musician, then turned into a theater actor and now he’s one of the top up-and-coming TV actors and is doing really well. I was back home in the summer and you go out to the mall with him and he’s getting 10 to 20 pictures taken.”
Women’s tennis head coach Abid Akbar(left) and men’s tennis coach Babar Akbar(right) take a break of coaching to enjoy a brotherly moment in the Kibbie Dome.
While Ahmed found his footing in theater, Abid and Babar continued following in their father’s footsteps. The two were trend-setters in their home country, where playing sports takes a back seat to other responsibilities.
“In Pakistan, kids are not really pushed towards sports. They’re always pretty much discouraged. School is first, school is second and school is third,” Abid said.
Their mother balanced out their father’s encouragement to play tennis and made sure her sons received good marks in school. Both Akbar brothers said she was still supportive of their choice to pursue sports.
Babar said for a time, their mother pushed for them to find a “real job.” However, he said she soon learned that a career in tennis was a real possibility.
Those possibilities came quickly, as Babar traveled to the United States to play tennis in college. He chose Charleston Southern in South Carolina as his school of choice, based on the amount of scholarships he was offered.
“The US is expensive when you’re coming from Pakistan. Living, eating, rent, everything is expensive. Whatever my parents earned, they had to earn a lot more just to sustain one us,” Babar said.
He double-majored in finance and economics with the hope of becoming an investment banker after school.
“I tried working in that field and I realized that sitting behind a desk is not for me,” Babar said.
He left the banking business for a teaching job at a high school back in Pakistan. While teaching, he and his students established a school tennis team.
Meanwhile, Abid began college in 2009. He also chose his school based on financial opportunity. Little did he know that the small town of Moscow, Idaho, would one day become his second home.
“I had never heard of Idaho until a month before I came here,” Abid said. “By my third day in Moscow, I completely forgot about everything else and just loved it.”
Jeff Beaman, the head coach when Abid arrived, led the team in a new direction. The Vandals went 3-16 in 2007. When Beaman stepped in as head coach the following year, Idaho went 12-12. The Vandals posted a 21-8 record by the time Abid had joined the team. During his senior season, the Silver and Gold went 21-7.
Abid said it was hard to see his eligibility end, and did not want to say goodbye to Moscow just yet. He stuck around as an assistant head coach helping Beaman and then interim head coach Art Hoomiratana. When both coaches decided to leave, the opportunity for Abid to become the team’s sole leader opened up.
“It would be the coolest thing to stick around and help the team that helped me get better. Now I could help it in a different way, in a leading way,” Abid said.Meanwhile, back in Pakistan, Babar was planning to take a year off from teaching to travel the world. During his travels, he decided to stop by Moscow and see his brother.
“As soon as I get here, (Abid) says ‘you know, the women’s coach left.’ So, I applied and then we both go to New Zealand,” Babar said.
The previous women’s head coach, Marianna Cobra, led her team to multiple successful seasons, ending her stint at Idaho with a 19-9 record, a Big Sky title and an NCAA tournament appearance.
After his trip, Babar came back to the US to interview with athletic director Rob Spear and was eventually offered the job.
“The funny thing was, it took about four months to get the visa. That was always nerve-wracking because I was here, I was living here. I came with a suitcase just kind of to travel with and I’m still living out of it,” Babar said. “It’s a good thing (Abid) is a similar height so I can steal his clothes.”
Babar said coaching has become his favorite way to enjoy tennis. He said after college, he became weary of the constant pressure to compete at a high level. Now, he said helping others improve their game has been the greatest decision he could have made.
They agreed that their playing styles are on the opposite end of the spectrum. While Babar likes to focus on having fun on the court, Abid values performance. Abid said when he enters a tournament, all of his thoughts are on winning and getting in the best possible shape.
Both brothers said these traits translate into their coaching style. Babar said he likes to keep things light during practice, while Abid said he can be very hardcore and intense while training his players.
“I personally think we are very different coaches,” Babar said. “Our coaching philosophy may be similar, but our coaching methodology is very, very different. For us, it’s what we know,” Babar said. “It’s in our DNA.”
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill