By Eric A Thomas
Finishing his third year at Jacksonville High School (JHS) as girls’ tennis coach with steady growth in the team is Doug Moy. When Coach Moy took over coaching the girls’ team, he had 11 members. At the close of this year’s season, he has built a team of 26.
Moy had seen an ad looking for a coach for the boys’ tennis team and decided to apply. He was hired and the following year, the position for the girls’ team opened up. He was hired for that position as well. “My first year with the boys’ team, we started with five and recruited a sixth member from the JHS Drumline to make a team,” stated Moy. “The boys team now has 25. Seeing the growth on both teams has been nice.” What has been really nice to see according to Moy is that during the 3-day spring break clinic last spring, they had approximately 50 kids take part and over 70 kids have taken lessons.
The season for the girls started in August and ended at the end of October. They play 20 events per season. The matrix is not specific to wins and losses but how much did they close the gap on exceptional programs from year to year. Home matches are played at Illinois College. “It would be nice to see the courts at JHS restored so we can move back to the high school for home matches,” Moy added. The tennis programs have a rich history of success beyond the courts.
“Not certain when the programs were established but I believe it was in the ’70s,” continued Moy. “I know many who have gone through the program and gone on to lead successful careers.”
There have been two key elements to the success of the program, states coach Moy: “I emphasize fun first in everything we do on the courts. It allows the students to try tennis and learn to love the sport without any performance pressure. … This helps the player to go for the bigger shots and compete without realizing the repetition and effort it took to get there.” The other component to success has been the support from all the aspects of the community: parents, classmates, siblings, community leaders, faculty, other 117 coaches and so many others.
“The alumni, as far back as 40 years ago, has been incredibly supportive,” Moy concluded. “I am also very appreciative to the YMCA for giving us additional court space and the YMCA pickleball family for helping us with our 2-year successful fundraisers.”
Moy holds a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology with a minor in psychology/sports psychology and an emphasis on education. Professionally, he had a 15-year sports marketing career working with Nike, the NFL, St. Louis Cardinals, Blues and Rams. He has also worked for big Pharma and financial planning among other things. He has three daughters, with one currently playing on the Crimson tennis team. He has been employed with JHS as a teacher since 2021.
