Spring Break
Tennis coach has teaching in his blood
Nick Wells
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Sports
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In his first year at the helm of the men's and women's tennis program, the former Rockhurst head coach is making noise. The girl's squad is already a success story.
After being picked to finish last in the conference, the team has pulled off back-to-back wins over IUPUI and Southern Utah University.
"They were struggling with confidence issues, because there were girls on the team that had never won a match," Hale said. "They were so used to losing I had to sort of break them of that."
Hale breeds confidence and brings a winning swagger to UMKC, after enjoying a significant amount of triumphs at Kangaroo neighbor Rockhurst where he compiled a record of 234-133.
Hale guided the Hawks to nine NCAA Tournament appearances in 10 years at the Division II University. His team finished the 1997 season as the 12th ranked team in the nation in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and he was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
He is the only coach to ever be named United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) College Coach of the Year four times and has mentored six top-30 Division II student-athletes.
"He [Hale] has a strong national reputation and we feel fortunate to have him," UMKC Athletics Director Tim Hall said. "He is all substance and he is not a self-promoter."
The Kangaroo coach said the challenge of jumping from Division II to Division I and attempting to turn a program around was the main reason he wanted to coach the Roos.
"I had a great job, I could have stayed at Rockhurst as long as I wanted," Hale said. "I was sort of creating a legacy there. But I had watched UMKC for many years, and once they combined both the men's and women's programs, I knew UMKC was the beginning for me."
The ordained minister knows what it takes to win at this level, for he knows the conference very well after facing off with the likes of Oral Roberts University (ORU) while at Rockhurst. Yes, he is a minister as well, and is also the USPTA tester in Kansas City for anyone who wants to become certified to teach.
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