Kevin Gillette usually spends his time coaching local and out-of-town tennis players as tennis director at Northwood Country Club.

Now, he’ll be doing the same, albeit under a bit of a bigger spotlight.

Gillette, who’s lived in Meridian for 14 years, was selected to coach seven players from the South section in the boys 18 and 16 USTA National Championship, which begins Aug. 3 in Kalamazoo, Mich. It’s not Gillette’s first out-of-town coaching job — he was a coach in the USTA girls and boys 16 intersectional team championship earlier this month in Shreveport, La., for example — it is a special one. As a high school senior in 1982, Gillette competed in the same tournament, and he called the competition the “gem of the world” for junior tennis.

“It’s a special honor to be able to coach the top kids,” Gillette said. “It gives you a little taste of the old competition, so I’m excited to do it, and it comes at a good time, right before school starts back.”

Getting selected to coach means the tournament’s governing body has a high opinion of Gillette’s coaching abilities, and he said he’s humbled by the opportunity. He’s also looking forward to working with tennis players who are considered the cream of the crop in their age group.

“These are all blue-chip kids who will get to go to any school in the country to play tennis,” Gillette explained. “It brings me back to when I was competing and reminds you of how hard you have to work to get to that level.”

When it comes to coaching these caliber of athletes, Gillette said he and the other coaches will not be reinventing the wheel.

“You’re trying to get these kids to appreciate that it’s not just about winning or losing, but it’s about competing and handling the moments,” Gillette said. “It’s not always about winning but about, ‘How can I compete better?’ A lot of it is giving assessments of what they’ve done. A lot of times they’ll be negative, and I’ll say, ‘No, you played well, you just missed a few opportunities.’ If I feel something needs to be corrected, I’m not afraid to tell them, and I think that’s why I’m in this position.”

Past competitors at the 18 and 16 USTA National Championship include former Grand Slam champions Stan Smith and Andy Roddick. As someone who previously competed in the same tournament, Gillette said the tournament’s prestige isn’t the only thing he remembers.

“Just the camaraderie of feeling like we’re the elite of the elite in the nation,” Gillette said of the tournament. “You have to be really good to get to this point. You kind of embrace it and enjoy it. It’s always been there, so there’s a lot of tradition to this tournament. It’s kind of like golf when you’re walking into the Masters — when you walk in, you know you’re in a special place.”

Gillette will begin working with his players July 27 in Illinois before going to Kalamazoo Aug. 3.