Kevin Friesen, Royal Oak's Varsity Tennis coach was named by the Michigan High School Coaches Association, the Boys Tennis Coach of the Year Overall! He will be honored alongside 25 other coaches from across the state at a banquet on November 7. According to their press release, the selection of Coach Friesen "reflects positively on his schools and community. Coach of the Year selections has been based on the performance of their program over the years and/or their contribution to the sport, schools, and community."
Mr. Friesen told us that he's been coaching since 1981 and that he collected his first paycheck from Royal Oak Schools in 1974 as a locker room attendant. He actually retired from teaching at ROS this past June, but is planning on participating in the Senior Olympics more. "There are Senior Olympics for people 50 and over, in the previous sports that I competed in," he said. "In the Senior Olympics, you are competing against people in your own age bracket. I have competed in Minneapolis, Albuquerque, Cleveland, Houston, Ft. Wayne, Portsmouth, Columbus, Toledo, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, and Rochester Hills. Future cities are Fort Lauderdale and Pittsburg. So my plans are to continue to practice these sports so I can compete in them."
He added that a favorite hobby of his is coaching. And that he hopes to coach the Varsity tennis teams at ROHS for at least another 5 years. "I got into education after I started coaching. I enjoyed teaching skills, teamwork, having the responsibility of a team of players, etc. I went back to get my teaching degree after I started coaching."
Coach Friesen said that he hopes he is remembered for having high energy and maybe even being a little funny. But he hopes his legacy is that his students know that physical fitness is important in their daily lives and forever.