Monona Grove teacher, Coach dies after collapsing at tennis match | Local Education

Charles Pyng, of Monona, collapsed while coaching the tennis match, principal Mitch McGrath said Thursday night in a message to families.

During a water break in the girls tennis match against Waunakee High School at Ahuska Park in Monona, Pyng suddenly fell after talking to a player, said Chris Nuenthel, tennis Coach at Waunakee.

They seemed 100% healthy, Nuenthel said. It was a shock to everybody.

Pyng was a beloved art teacher, boys and girls tennis Coach and Adviser of the anime and Asian clubs, McGrath said.

I am writing to you tonight with a heavy heart and very difficult news, he wrote. This is an incredibly difficult time for students and staff alike. It will be important that we all pull together and thoughtfully support one another.

The school building was open Friday, with students encouraged to come for support, counseling and companionship, McGrath said. A choir trip scheduled for Friday was cancelled. Other decisions on extracurricular activities had not been made.

The Monona Grove football team said its Friday night game would still be played, but tailgate and youth night activities were canceled. Students organized a Pink Out for Pyng at the game.

Charlie Pyng always cared about the needs of those around him first and will be truly missed, said a message on the teams Facebook page.

Nuenthel said Pyng also coached younger students in private lessons and at tennis camps, including some who now play at Waunakee.

They would talk to him and joke around, they said. He supported all of the kids he touched, and he Touched a lot of Waunakee players … Hes a guy that everybody got along with.

Pyng previously taught at Glacial Drumlin School. He had a wife and three young children, including one born this year, Nuenthel said.