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Recently, I was eating in one of our local restaurants, AH-HA Corner Cafe, at the same time of Dave and Jeanne Cleland. It was good to see them again and to chat. I have fond memories of Dave coaching a very talented softball team sponsored by Hope Hardwoods, and he always had a high interest in stats, something that you certainly are made aware of when watching professional sports these days. We discussed some of the tennis coaching stats of one of his sons, Tim. Dave happened to have a very informative document consisting of three pages related to what Tim has accomplished in coaching tennis and in teaching at Delta High School, an Indiana public high school of 800 students which is not far from Muncie. Following, you will find just a few:

* For 35 years, Coach Cleland has coached the boys to 684 victories and 128 losses and has now won 32 consecutive tennis sectionals

* In 29 years, Coach Cleland has coached the girls to 529 victories and 99 losses

* His total career coaching record is an amazing 1,213 victories and 227 losses, highest varsity wins in state history of any sport

* 48 of his 64 teams have been ranked in the Top 20

* 11 of his teams have participated in the State Team Finals

* He has coached 57 All-State Doubles players, 18 All-State Singles players, and 22 Academic All-State players 17 players have gone on to play in NCAA Division I or Division II programs while many others have gone on to play in smaller college programs

* As co-founder of the SmashCancer tennis match, over $114,000 has been raised

* Tim served as President of the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association for 25 years

* Among many other awards, Tim has received the Central Indiana Tennis Service Award, the Indiana Dollars for Scholars Hoosier Hero Award, Flame of Leadership Award for Youth Leadership, Person of Integrity Award, Community Service Award, Youth Development Champion, and National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame

I was also able to get in contact with former Hauser Tennis Coach Tom Canright, who coached Tim and others, and Tom shared the following: “Hauser built tennis courts in 1977, and they were ready for use in the fall of 1977 for the first Hauser tennis team. Tim was a freshman that year but did not come out for the team while not sure he was a good enough player. His brother, Mick, was on the team and knew Tim was good enough. But Mick and other team members could not convince Tim. However, Tim joined the team as a sophomore and made the starting seven right away.

“In Tim's junior and senior years, he was our #1 Singles Player. In August before Tim's senior season, we went out to the courts to play a set. The score got to be 4-0 in Tim's favor, and I realized I had yet to win a point. I could not stop laughing about this situation, and Tim quickly won the next eight points to win the set 6-0, what is referred to as a golden set in the game of tennis.

“Tim led the best tennis team I coached in my seven years at Hauser. It consisted of Tim, Scott Ortlieb, Daryl Rose, Matt Stoddard, Larry Stone, Greg Webb, and Tom Workman. We did not win the sectional as we were assigned the Seymour one that included both Columbus schools along with Seymour and Batesville. That team lost to Columbus North in the final 2-3. Tim did win his match at #1 Singles, so he advanced in tournament play.

“Later that year, I phoned the IHSAA office to ask if Hauser could be moved to Shelbyville for the tennis sectional since Shelbyville was closer to Hope than Seymour. They said, “No problem.” The Jets then won the sectional titles the next two years with outstanding teams.”

I asked Tim some questions during his Christmas Break. He was kind enough to answer them all and shared wonderful memories of playing at Hauser for Coach Canright: “When Hauser built four tennis courts in the late 1970s, it changed the whole course of my life. At the time, baseball was my primary sport, and I barely knew tennis existed. I was a skinny little freshman in high school and didn't play tennis that first season of 1977, but my older brother, Mick, did. That got me interested, so I started hitting balls against our garage door for hours on end to develop my skills. I then began playing with Mick and with Coach Canright as well as several other players on the team.

“Coach Canright's passion for tennis and sense of humor proved to be big draws, and many good players were quickly developed including Scott Orlieb, Daryl Rose, Matt Stoddard, Larry Stone, Greg Webb, Tom Workman, and many more. In the summer of 1980, the town of Hope was celebrating its sesquicentennial. As part of that event, there were several floats being stored on the Hauser baseball diamond for a few weeks, and the committee needed someone to make sure no one messed with them during the day. So several of us on the tennis team were paid a few dollars a day to guard the floats which meant we played tennis for hours and hours every day on the courts which were next to the baseball diamond.

“Then in the fall of 1980, our team had a great season, and I somehow made the Indiana All-State Singles Team. Columbus North reached the Final Four in 1979, and they had another strong team in 1980. But we gave them a very close battle before losing in the sectional finals. I won my match at #1 Singles against North, so I got to advance in the very first IHSAA Singles Regional in Indianapolis featuring 16 players throughout Indiana. I lost in the morning round to a very strong player from Evansville. In retrospect, I don't really know how I made the All-State Team because I had only played for three years, had never had a formal tennis lesson, had never played in an indoor tennis center. And with all sports at the time being single class, making an All-State Team was something very hard to achieve back then at Hauser. I guess all those hours of hitting against the garage door and playing with friends for hours out on the courts at Hauser and at Lincoln Park in Columbus paid off.”

Due to Tim being so involved with the Indiana High School Tennis Association, I asked if there was any chance tennis would eventually become a multiclass sport since I have for years thought attention should be given to that change. He said, “It has been a point of discussion, but ultimately IHSAA must make the decision.”

With Tim's comment about hitting balls against the garage door, I made a call to his parents to discuss. I recall as a young boy throwing a baseball off the concrete of our cellar entry, breaking a window, and how hard it was to face and tell my parents. Tim's parents still fondly remember him hitting tennis ball after tennis ball against the garage door. Fortunately, it did not have any windows and apparently withstood the constant pounding as well as their ears. Dave shared that Jeanne was asked one time at a tennis match who Tim's pro was, and she simply responded with: “Our garage door!”

Note: A second article about Coach Cleland will appear next week with his answers to four other questions.