The former Teaching Pro will become the new Tiger Boys coach

Author: Isabel Vander Stoep / [email protected]

Scott Snyder, the tennis coach for boys at New Centralia High School, may have more than three times the experience of his most experienced players, but he still maintains a simple approach. This season, he makes only two requests from his players: always give 110% effort and have fun.

It’s a hard time being high school kids, he said, and students have significant stressors in their personal and academic lives. So he’s trying to make sure the court isn’t another high-pressure place.

“The mental part of the game, that’s my strength,” Snyder said, later adding, “I think I have a different philosophy (for teaching or coaching) than many people. I don’t stress about winning. I prefer players to go out and have fun.… When you play a match, you “There are three things that can happen: you can win, you win or you win. And of course, if you lose, you win yourself.

Snyder started playing tennis at the age of 5. At the age of 11, he taught beginners. In high school, his team won the state championship and finished second in the nation in 1979.

After starting college, he and a friend played doubles in satellite tournaments for six months. Between profit margins and travel and play costs, they even disappeared financially. Snyder decided it was time to get serious about school, so he interrupted tournaments and graduated with an accounting degree, but continued to teach tennis.

Eventually, he became a U.S. Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) certified teaching professional. When his family moved to Florida, Snyder served as interim manager of tennis at Isleworth Golf & Country Club before handing over to Ray Ruffels, an Australian professional who made the 1978 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Finals (in collaboration with Billie Jean King).

After this position, she coached high school tennis and group instruction in Florida, but her main focus was working with children who want to become a professional or earn a game of tennis.

When he and his wife retired, they moved from Florida to Kentucky, where Snyder took time to train as a volunteer firefighter. Eventually, his dentist came to him as news of two younger men playing doubles who had stopped looking for a strong local coach. Their goal was to get into a state tournament. With Snyder’s help, they reached the state quarterfinals. He loved it and was going to return to coach high school the following year when the pandemic cut off the season after just one match.

Snyder and his wife then moved to Lewis County to be closer to their daughter in Gaston, Oregon.

TJ Underwood, a USPTA-certified tennis professional at Thorbeckes in Chehalis, told him about the vacant head coach position on Centralia’s high school boys ’team.

“And here I am; I’ll get back to coaching,” Snyder said.

He hopes players can take their lessons with them as they leave the field, saying they believe the mental toughness achieved through sport can have a lasting impact. It’s both an individual and a team sport, he said, so it promotes personal growth and teaches players to work together to achieve a common goal.

“It just adds character,” he said.

The schedule for the season is still being finalized, although Centralia is likely to play its first match in about two weeks.

“It just deals with all the personalities and sees which keywords work with certain people, and you just go to make it work,” Snyder said. “I’ve had negative coaches, positive coaches and I believe 99% of people respond positively. Let’s make it fun and make it as easy as possible. “