by Clair Maciel, USPTA staff writer
April 2008 -- One thousand career wins.
It's a milestone only a handful of college coaches have reached, not only in tennis, but in any sport. David T. Porter, Ed.D., the men's and women's tennis coach at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, tallied win No. 1,000 in dual matches March 10 when his women's team defeated Dixie State College to remain undefeated for the season.
Porter, a USPTA Master Professional, is only the sixth collegiate tennis coach to join the 1,000-win club, along with David Elliot (Harding) and Jim Brockhoff (Xavier), and USPTA members Jim Schwitters (Hawaii), Robert Screen (Hampton) and the late Walt Attaway (Shorter). Porter, however, has accomplished the feat in the fewest total number of contests (1,128) for any coach in any college sport.
In his 24 years leading the BYU-Hawaii men's tennis team, a program he established in 1984, Porter has amassed a record of 548-115 (as of press time), while the women's team has recorded a nearly flawless 452-13 record (as of press time) under his 16-year guidance. In addition, his teams have combined for 11 national championships in NAIA and NCAA Division II competition.
As remarkable as those numbers and records are, Porter remains modest about the accomplishment, instead giving credit to his players and reflecting on the talent he has had on his teams during his career.
"I don't think the number really has any special meaning outside of the fact that it's an indication of how lucky I've been to work with so many good kids," he said. "As I look back on those years, I think about the players, not the wins or the national championships because it's not about that. It's about the kids and their lives and seeing them do well.
"Each set of wins, whether it's 20 one year or 30 another year, involves a different group of kids, and it's all about that moment for them," he added. "The accumulation of all of that is an indication of how many times I've had great opportunities to work with wonderful young people."
In addition to being one of the most experienced and knowledgeable tennis professionals in the industry, Porter humbly admits that much of his success as the BYU-Hawaii coach is due to the many USPTA Professionals around the world who have sent their most talented players to him in his North Shore paradise. He named Peter Burwash, Bernard Guzman, Karl Hale of Canada, Yue Wang of China and Wei-Yu Su of Taiwan as a few of the many pros who have recommended players for the BYU-Hawaii team.
"So many top USPTA Professionals have sent outstanding players to me who have made monumental differences to our program," Porter said. "The players I have received from USPTA pros are extremely well prepared in the fundamentals of the game and have been taught how to compete. This makes such a difference. To have players come to a university setting who are prepared correctly makes any college coach's job easier. I'm sure there are many other USPTA pros all over the country - and world for that matter - who are doing the same thing for other college coaches and contributing largely to their success."
USPTA CEO Tim Heckler, who has worked closely with Porter for the past 15 years, said Porter's level of expertise in tennis and coaching has given him an advantage as a coach and has helped him reach this 1,000-win milestone.
"Dave has a unique advantage as a recruiter of players," Heckler said. "First, he is one of the most highly respected professional coaches within the USPTA. Second, he has proven to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on all aspects of the game, particularly in being able to 'have the eye' to choose the most qualified players. All one has to do is review his college recruitment record for proof of this."
In the same manner that USPTA pros are helping Porter in his career as a coach, Porter is in turn continuing the cycle, giving back to USPTA pros by inspiring his students to become coaches. Porter has such an enthusiasm and passion for the game that it's no surprise so many of his former players have decided to continue down the same path. And that's something Porter said he considers to be the most rewarding part of his job.
"I think I have more than 50 former players who are now USPTA teaching pros around the world, and who have embraced tennis as a life career," he said. "It's been fun to see them grow and develop and learn both about playing and coaching and then choose to do that with their lives."
A full-time professor in exercise and sport science, Porter was also an accomplished tennis player himself, representing BYU-Utah during his collegiate playing career. Since taking over as head coach for the BYU-Hawaii tennis programs, he has turned winning into an annual tradition with the Seasider teams. And to prove it, the men have clinched two national championships, while the women claimed nine championship titles and haven't finished below second place in the last 11 years.
Much of what Porter said he learned about successful coaching early in his career came from USPTA Master Professionals Jim Loehr, Ed.D., and Jack Groppel, Ph.D., as well as other college coaches such as Stanford's Dick Gould, Dick Leach (University of Southern California) and Larry Hall (BYU).
"There were a lot of coaches that I looked up to and respected around the country, coaches who I tried to watch to see how they did things," Porter said. "I used to try and go to as many conferences as I could where Jim or Jack were speaking because I was so interested in what they had to say. As far as the strategic and technical side of tennis, I had a pretty good understanding of what I wanted to do, but in terms of understanding how the athlete thinks and some of the latest sport science research, I thought I could get the most from those two individuals. They were major motivations for me."
Porter has definitely gained from that knowledge, and he now uses it to benefit not only his college players, but also the USPTA. He is a past national president, is currently chairman of the USPTA Education Committee and has led the Player Development Committee for the last six years alongside tennis' expert minds such as Groppel, Loehr, Rick Macci, Paul Roetert, Nick Bollettieri, Emilio Sanchez and Tim Heckler.
Given Porter's solid reputation as a renowned teaching pro, it's not likely his tradition of maintaining a winning record at BYU-Hawaii will end anytime soon. And the USPTA is certainly proud to have such an individual on its team.
