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Posts Tagged ‘Ken Stange’

The Dude Departs, Chapter 5: Fun in the Fall

Posted in Tennis, tagged , , , , on July 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Drake Borden, perhaps the last great Wolf boy’s netter, unleashes a serve. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The mission is complete … for now.

Ken Stange recently wrapped an 18-year run as Coupeville High School tennis coach, leading the Wolves through two seasons most years.

As he marinates in his “retirement” down at Bailey’s Corner Store, he’s sharing memories, deep thoughts, and (maybe) clues to where the bodies are buried.

A nine-part odyssey inside the mind of the man, the myth, the always-entertaining net guru:

 

After my first year of teaching in Coupeville, Pastor Cliff Horr, tennis coach and one of my favorite doubles partners, decided that 10 years was enough coaching for him.

Perhaps the fact that his entire boys’ and girls’ varsity squads had graduated influenced his decision.

Anyhow, I showed up for practice in the fall of 2005 to see about nine boys ready to play tennis. It wasn’t quite what I had expected.

Talent was low and numbers were few.

Still, there was a young man named Aaron Gavin.

He wasn’t the best tennis player, but he was a great leader.

There were also a few young players who would be with me for all four years, and they were the first building blocks of the boys’ program.

That first fall was rough. We lost almost all our matches. There was much room for improvement.

There was one odd but teachable moment that season.

It was the day of my first match as tennis coach.

We were on the way to South Whidbey to take a beating from the Falcons, and I heard some nefarious sounds coming from the back of the bus.

I went to the back to investigate and saw a kid swallow and start chewing a sheet of paper.

As the bus pulled into the parking lot, I told the boy to spit out the paper and show me, or we’d turn the bus around and I’d resign from my coaching position.

Let’s just say that it was not a note anyone would want to read, and they were showing it to the car travelling behind the bus.

I told the nine boys to meet me at the track the next day and to wear good running shoes.

Collectively, the nine boys ran 15 miles that day, as the girls’ soccer team jeered them for their behavior.

I think I made my mark that day.

There was one young man, Jake Weaver, who had nothing to do with the nonsense of that day.

He did most of the running that day. It was the day he took the role as a leader.

Play improved and players held themselves accountable.

And that’s how it went. Kids took the lead.

Aaron Gavin graduated, and Jake took the reins of leadership.

Each season, new kids arrived … each season, the level of play improved.

Early lessons helped build success later. (Photo courtesy Ken Stange)

I was blessed in year two with the arrival of the class of 2010 and Connor Tasoff.

He brought friends: Jordan Lamb, Travis Curtin, and Garrett Knoll.

That was a core group of four that would eventually take 1st and 2nd in both singles and doubles in our league tournament.

I consider Connor Tasoff to be the father of the tennis program at CHS.

He was the first “tennis junkie” to join the team. He and his friends made tennis cool.

He was a leader.

If I could go back in time and change the tennis history of only one guy, I would have had Connor go to state.

Any success I had in my years of coaching the guys at CHS goes back to him.

He started something, and it rolled on and on, from 2006-2019, which was the last year of the CHS boys’ tennis program.

Connor and his crew set the example that would be followed by a very long list of singles players and doubles teams.

After Connor came Ben Hayes and Nathan Lamb.

After Ben and Nathan came Aaron Curtin.

After Aaron came Jakobi Baumann.

After Jakobi came Drake Borden.

Drake was the last of the greats. If Connor was the father of the program, Drake was the youngest son.

Much like Connor, Drake had true love for the game.

He played and watched, and he analyzed and worked on his game.

Of all the singles players I had, Drake played in the most difficult league. He went toe to toe with some of the best players in the state and he garnered their respect.

Had my spine been healthy enough to hit with him during his senior year, he would’ve beaten me easily.

After Drake came COVID, the move to the 2B classification with soccer in the fall, and the death of the boys’ tennis program.

There were doubles teams, too.

Not always was the top singles player at the top of the ladder.

Garrett Knoll and Travis Curtin.

Aaron Curtin and Ben Etzell.

Joseph Wedekind and John McClarin.

Joey Lippo and Will Nelson.

James Wood and Mason Grove.

These guys all ascended to become the top duo. They lived on Court #3, where the top doubles teams always played.

Whether the leadership came from a singles player or doubles team, the knowledge was always passed down to the next guys.

We always had fun in the fall.

Let the awards (and cupcakes) rain down. (Photo courtesy Ken Stange)

One of the best parts of the season was the end of season awards dinner thing that sports teams do.

We tried to have it away from the school as much as possible because we spent too much time at school already.

According to the kids, our dinner was the best of any team, because the families brought their best dishes.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who would eat light all day because I knew that we’d dine like kings at the awards dinner.

Anyone who was on the team while Garrett and Jason Knoll played probably still remembers the perfectly colored tennis ball cupcakes made by Peggy Knoll.

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The Dude Departs, Chapter 4: Dad’s Gift

Posted in Tennis, tagged , , , , on July 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ray Stange, master of the hardcourt. (Photos courtesy Ken Stange)

The mission is complete … for now.

Ken Stange recently wrapped an 18-year run as Coupeville High School tennis coach, leading the Wolves through two seasons most years.

As he marinates in his “retirement” down at Bailey’s Corner Store, he’s sharing memories, deep thoughts, and (maybe) clues to where the bodies are buried.

A nine-part odyssey inside the mind of the man, the myth, the always-entertaining net guru:

 

Some of the seeds of my coaching career were planted by my dad, Ray.

He gave me tennis.

Dad got me out on the court when I was about eight years old.

We loved sports. We were huge fans of all the Seattle teams, especially the Sonics and Seahawks.

I’ve got endless memories of trips to Seattle to see our teams play against some of the greats.

Tennis was the game we played, though.

He taught me and paid for some lessons.

He kept me flush with racquets, strings, and shoes.

I loved playing. I was average at other sports but in tennis, I learned how to wield my racquet well.

I wanted to get better.

When he was at work and unable to play with me, I’d hit against a wall, or I’d try to convince my friends to play with me.

Eventually, I was almost good enough to play with his crew, so he obliged and let me learn from the older men.

My game improved by leaps and bounds.

Ken Stange (left), always at home on the court.

In the spring of my ninth-grade year, I was excited to join the tennis team.

It had been a rough year.

My mom had passed just before Christmas, and I was full of depression and angst.

On the first day of the season, I walked from the junior high to the big bad high school (that school was grades 10-12) with excitement.

It was a welcome escape from what had been a hellish year so far.

Turns out, my depression and angst did not sit well with my tennis coach.

It didn’t take long for him to hate me, and he didn’t really disguise his feelings for me.

My tennis coach, who was ironically, the psychology teacher, came up with a nickname for me.

My new name was Fat. True story!

He was not my favorite person.

Luckily, I found a family in my teammates, who welcomed me with open arms, and with the assistant coach, who went to great lengths to help me process my mom’s death and all that depression and angst.

But that coach … he planted the other half of the seeds of my coaching career.

The ones that would help me focus on being kind and understanding; a coaching career that would allow players the chance to grow and the chance to be competitive.

Funny story: eventually, my coach could not deny me. In my senior year, my teammates voted me as captain.

He finally gave me the chance to play him at practice.

While I was up 4-1 in the first set, he stopped playing, grabbed his gear, and left practice early.

Years later, I would play Ben Hayes in practice.

He beat me. He was the first CHS kid to do so. I think I hugged him.

I owe a lot to Coach SoAndSo.

In my early years of coaching, when I often didn’t know how to proceed, I would ask myself how he would have done it. Then I did exactly the opposite.

Aside from doing the opposite of Coach SoAndSo, I often looked to my dad for advice related to tennis.

He was an excellent resource that possessed a wealth of information and experience.

My dad was the biggest CHS tennis supporter who never came to a match!

Forever the inspiration.

Every time we talked on the phone, Dad would listen to me give the details of matches … my players … the kids I felt could possibly make it to state.

He was my rock, and until he was 89, he was the official supplier of CHS practice tennis balls.

He collected the once used balls from the places he played and saved them for me.

Twice a year, I’d pick up several hundred tennis balls, many of which would end up being given to opposing teams, nursing homes (for walkers), and teachers whose classrooms had uncarpeted floors and metal chair legs.

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The Dude Departs, Chapter 3: Near Misses and Bitter Pills

Posted in Tennis, tagged , , , , on July 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Valen Trujillo catches her coach in mid-nap. (Photo courtesy Ken Stange)

The mission is complete … for now.

Ken Stange recently wrapped an 18-year run as Coupeville High School tennis coach, leading the Wolves through two seasons most years.

As he marinates in his “retirement” down at Bailey’s Corner Store, he’s sharing memories, deep thoughts, and (maybe) clues to where the bodies are buried.

A nine-part odyssey inside the mind of the man, the myth, the always-entertaining net guru:

 

I’ll forever remember the state tourney moments, as well as a few doubles teams and a singles player that just missed qualifying for state.

Players like Hayley Fiedler and Vivian Farris, who came up two points shy of a state berth.

That was the most recent one. Damn … it stings, and it always will.

That said, I had a front row seat for that district doubles final in May of 2023 and I can say that those two young women left it all on the court.

The rain probably still hasn’t washed away Hayley’s DNA from Court 5 at the Amy Yee Tennis Center in Seattle.

Or Joey Lippo and Will Nelson, who came up one point shy of a state berth in the fall of 2018.

It still feels as fresh as the near miss in 2023.

Like so many of the #1 doubles teams at CHS, Joey and Will ascended to that spot through a combination of attrition, hard work, and beating the guys ahead of them on the ladder.

I wanted it so badly for them … probably almost as much as they wanted it.

Had they made it out of that very difficult district tournament, they would’ve been in serious medal contention.

That loss gave me a level of sadness that was greater than the sadness I felt when Russ threw that pick against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

I still must couch it in some dark humorous way, so it remains palatable to me.

That’s the way it goes, sometimes.

While I didn’t like the outcome of that Super Bowl loss, it’s still one of the greatest Super Bowls I ever saw.

I feel the same way about those two near misses.

There were other kids that I wish got their shot at state.

In 2017, Valen Printz (Trujillo) was a senior and #1 singles player.

She won a 3rd/4th place match at districts but only two kids made it to state.

She knew she was playing for pride (and the alternate spot just in case).

It was her final high school match.

She ended it just like she started when she was in ninth grade … with a win.

She was a fierce competitor and one of the nicest people I ever coached.

Valen was an unbelievably good leader too.

She was sort of like a team mom to the other kids.

What’s more, when she played, she would beat the crap out of her opponent and then on the bus ride home, she’d talk about how she and her opponent were now friends.

Another near miss just shy of state was Ben Hayes in 2010. I think he was a junior.

He was one of the most amazing athletes I ever coached.

He had a district tennis match that was being played at CHS, while school was in session.

I got some of the teachers to dismiss their classes to watch, so we could get another edge against the kid from Seattle Academy.

There were about 80 kids watching from the little corner by Court #2.

Ben had a set point, and the other kid made a horrible call.

The rules didn’t allow anything except for the bad call to stand.

Things went downhill and Ben lost the match. The other kid would go on to qualify for state.

Every time I saw the opposing coach after that, I had to suppress my truest feelings.

Tia Wurzrainer (left) and Avalon Renninger were a dazzling duo. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There was also the season that never was: 2020, when Avalon Renninger and Tia Wurzrainer had put in the off-season time and work but were denied their shot at playing.

They both came out for that first week of the season and after five minutes I was already making plans for the state tournament.

They had taken lumps from their elders, Payton (Aparicio) and Sage (Renninger), and were ready to take home some state hardware.

I wanted it badly for them, too.

Avalon and Tia were the same age as my daughter. I knew them when they were tots.

It was their senior year, I was fully recovered from spinal fusion surgery, and I was going to help them get to state.

Damn, they had balance.

Tia was the steadying force with power and consistency while Avalon was the player who would do almost anything to get to a far away ball.

She wore her heart on her sleeve, just like me.

If I could give one doubles team their fair shot at a chance to play for a state berth, it would be Avalon and Tia.

Alas, the world got cancelled for a while. It was 2020, the season that never was.

Those near misses and bitter pills aren’t the best memories in the world, but nonetheless, they are memories.

While I do remember the outcome of those big losses, what sticks out most in my mind are the people involved in those memories.

The kids … their parents … their families … their teammates … even some of the opposing coaches, who became dear friends.

Everyone always in the moment and hanging on every shot.

How in almost every instance, the kids were as gracious in defeat as they were in victory.

How in almost every instance, the kids pushed things to the outer limits, much further than they probably thought they could have gone.

Good times for sure, but more importantly, those are the experiences that can be drawn upon later in life, when difficult situations arise.

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The Dude Departs, Chapter 2: It Was the System

Posted in Tennis, tagged , , , , , on July 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ken Stange built a tennis empire at Coupeville High School, one well-placed shot at a time. (Photos courtesy Stange)

The mission is complete … for now.

Ken Stange recently wrapped an 18-year run as Coupeville High School tennis coach, leading the Wolves through two seasons most years.

As he marinates in his “retirement” down at Bailey’s Corner Store, he’s sharing memories, deep thoughts, and (maybe) clues to where the bodies are buried.

A nine-part odyssey inside the mind of the man, the myth, the always-entertaining net guru:

 

Welcome to “By the Numbers, a.k.a. Tooting My Own Horn.”

Eighteen years of coaching (32 seasons) – 17 girls’ tennis seasons – 15 boys’ tennis seasons, 17 league titles – 12 with the girls – five with the boys.

One girls’ Bi-District team championship and six trip to state.

2008 — Hannah Bush (Merrell) and Megan Mindemann (Monroe) – My first trip to state.

I consider Hannah and Megan to be the mothers of the girls’ tennis program over which I presided.

They led an outstanding team during that season, and they lost very few matches.

They got pasted at state, but their sacrifices led to better experiences for future state qualifiers.

2010 — Julia Sierra Castaño – The Spanish Assassin was her nickname.

Julia (or Hoolia, as it was humorously spelled) was a Spanish exchange student.

She could hit forehands as hard as me.

She won a match at that state tournament and was in the mix for a medal.

She was easily the best singles player I ever coached on the girls’ team.

2014 — Aaron Curtin and Ben Etzell – tennis was their hobby sport.

In real life, they were serious baseball players who were part of a state championship little league team when they were younger.

They had a wickedly strong fall season in 2014 and qualified for the state tournament in the spring by surviving a very tough group of Seattle private school teams.

The problem was that their baseball team also made it to state that spring, so we only had about three hours of court time together before the tourney.

That said, they still won one of their matches. Had we more time to prepare, a medal would have been within reach.

While Ben would move on to a successful college baseball career, Aaron was only a junior and would be back the next season.

Aaron and Ben occupy the top boys’ doubles spot on my all-time team.

2015 — Aaron Curtin (8th Place) – Aaron (or A-A-Ron as I liked to call him) was the best boys’ singles player I ever coached.

Pressure and stress were not part of his athletic vocabulary.

When he came back for his senior year, we said, “Why not just go to state in singles this year?”

He did. He placed 8th, my first player to earn a medal.

Basking in the afterglow with Aaron Curtin.

2018 — Payton Aparicio and Sage Renninger (4th Place).

Payton and Sage were the most professional players I ever coached. They worked extremely hard at improving their doubles game.

As ninth graders, they showed up on one of the deepest teams I’d ever had.

There were four veteran doubles teams vying for the coveted #1 doubles spot in the lineup.

One by one, Payton and Sage took their teammates down, eventually locking down the top spot for themselves for four years.

They took their lumps that first year, but by the time they were seniors, they were battle tested.

In the regular season, they played about six doubles teams that would end up qualifying for state at the A or AA classifications.

They showed up to state expecting to take home hardware and won their opening match.

In the quarterfinals, they squared up and took on the defending state champions from Overlake.

Payton and Sage didn’t back down.

They lost the first set but adjusted and took the second set.

They ended up losing that match, forcing a third match of the day, in sweltering heat.

They dug deep and took down their opponents, earning them a spot in Saturday’s medal matches.

It was one of the gutsiest wins I’ve ever seen.

On the morning of their medal match, I waited for them in the hotel lobby.

When I saw them, the effects of the previous day’s seven hours of tennis were not evident. They were on their toes and ready.

Before they stepped on the court, I knew they were going to win an easy match. They did just that.

Payton and Sage are the only players I coached who ended their state run with a win, winning the 4th/7th place match.

They also occupy the top girls’ doubles spot on my all-time team.

Sage Renninger (left) and Payton Aparicio ruled the CHS courts for four years.

2023 — Helen Strelow – Helen was the reason I kept coaching after the cancelled COVID season.

We only got to hit for a little while that spring, but as a sophomore, Helen came back and steadily improved each day.

As a junior, she came up a bit shy of qualifying for state, but in her senior year, she carried the team to league and district titles, as well as a state berth for herself.

She won a match at state too.

That young woman did it all: accomplished artist, valedictorian, state cross country runner, state tennis player, and a two-time academic state champion during her senior year.

Qualifying for state was always the lofty goal.

In a state tennis tournament, there are only 48 kids who qualify.

It’s not like football and its sixteen teams of 50+ players.

It’s not like track and field, with a multitude of events and hundreds of participants.

It’s 48 kids, and many of those kids play for private schools and practice year-round on indoor courts.

Beating them is special—somewhat of a David taking down Goliath.

These numbers and stats make me proud.

If you look at the walls of the CHS gym, each sport has placards representing major accomplishments.

Each sport has different types of accomplishments that can be reached, but one that all teams have in common is league titles.

Over 32 seasons and 18 years, my tennis teams won 17 league titles.

Between 2005-2023, the tennis teams won more league titles than all the other teams combined.

I know that sometimes we were in small leagues that were easy to win, but we nonetheless beat the teams that were put in front of us, at least most of the time.

It’s not just the numbers that make me proud.

It makes me proud to know that we did it on a shoestring budget that did not allow for an assistant coach.

There were times when I had 30 kids playing tennis and it was next to impossible to keep track of them all.

The older players were the assistant coaches, and they did a fantastic job of showing the new kids the ropes.

There were leaders, and when future leaders emerged, the current leaders passed the torch to them, so to speak.

It was the system.

We played against much larger schools with much larger tennis teams and we held our own.

It sustained itself for the better part of 18 years.

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The Dude Departs, Chapter 1: Hello and Farewell

Posted in Tennis, tagged , , , , on July 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Longtime Wolf tennis coach Ken Stange and his final state tourney qualifier, Helen Strelow. (Photos courtesy Stange)

The mission is complete … for now.

Ken Stange recently wrapped an 18-year run as Coupeville High School tennis coach, leading the Wolves through two seasons most years.

As he marinates in his “retirement” down at Bailey’s Corner Store, he’s sharing memories, deep thoughts, and (maybe) clues to where the bodies are buried.

A nine-part odyssey inside the mind of the man, the myth, the always-entertaining net guru:

 

After serving 18 years as the Coupeville High School tennis coach, I’ve hung up my clipboard, so to speak.

The decision was not an easy one to make.

After I stopped teaching, in 2015, I had a yearly conversation with myself about whether or not it would be my final year of coaching.

For the first few years, it was easy to stay on as coach.

I had players who I had taught and enjoyed, and I felt an obligation and a desire to keep working with them.

However, as the years progressed, and new kids would join the team, I felt my level of connection with them slipping away.

Gone was the experience of having had them in class and knowing more about who they were as individuals, which had previously enhanced my ability to tailor my approach for individual players.

Eventually, the entire team was made up of kids who never had me as a teacher.

At that point, making those connections became even more difficult.

Still, there were always a few kids who would rekindle my interest, and I’d be hooked.

In the spring of 2020, the year of COVID and a cancelled tennis season, I thought it would be my last go around, but there was one bright eyed ninth grader named Helen who showed up to play.

We only got to practice for a week or so before the season was cancelled.

That short time with her made me know that I wanted to be a part of whatever she was going to do in tennis.

As Helen and her Class of 2023 cohorts progressed, I waited for that next kid or group of kids to materialize, so I could continue putting off the decision to leave.

It never quite happened.

The kids were good and kind people, but I felt that I just wasn’t the right person for the job anymore.

Then the spring of 2023 came around, and still, no strong connections were made.

That meant that it was time … time to reflect on my years of coaching tennis in Coupeville … time to savor and enjoy all the “lasts” in my final season.

And what a final season it was!

The final squad.

Helen, the bright eyed ninth grader?

In her senior year, she was dominant and continued to grow her tennis game.

She went undefeated in league play, helping our team secure yet another league title.

She won the district singles tournament, leading our team to its first ever district tournament team title.

She went to the state tournament and even won a match.

The team won the academic state championship, yet another first for the CHS tennis program.

People dream of going out on top like this.

I know that I’m no Michael Jordan or Jim Brown, but knowing that my final season was one where so many team and individual goals were achieved makes me feel a bit like MJ, riding off into the sunset having just won my sixth ring.

Eighteen years is a long time.

When I stepped down as coach, I was the longest tenured head coach at the high school.

A lot of football, volleyball, basketball, and soccer coaches came and went during my time at the helm of the tennis program.

During that time, my players racked up some big numbers that made me look good … really good.

Yes, I’m going to toot my own horn, so to speak.

Why not? I’m proud of what I presided over and what my players and teams accomplished.

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