Feature Friday: Men's Tennis, The Culture of Winning
March 25, 2016 | Men's Tennis
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By: Joshua Gleason
Feature Friday highlights the tremendous personal stories our coaches and cadet-athletes have to share on a weekly basis. Each Friday, a new feature story will be prominently highlighted on GoArmyWestPoint.com. The features will include multi-media pieces, as well as written stories by media outlets and the Army West Point athletic communications staff.
The office has a multitude of racquets propped up against the desk. Boxes of tennis balls sit on a chair waiting to be opened while a few more are scattered individually along the floor.
The walls are fashioned with a number of papers, a few of which contain inspirational quotes ranging from the likes of tennis legend Andre Agassi to war hero William A. Foster, along with various photos and pictures.
There is no mistaking this is the office of Army West Point men's tennis coach Jim Poling. He is in his 15th season at the Academy and 29th as a head coach. He loves the game of tennis and there is more that illustrates that than just the décor of his office. There is an uptick in his inflection when Poling talks about the sport, as he speaks passionately about tennis and the program at Army.
Poling has the enthusiasm for the game that one would expect from somebody who grew up in the sport and involved at a young age. But that was not his path.
"I was about 13-years old and my family moved to Florida from Ohio," recalls Poling. "I rode my bike on a whim down to Rollins College and watched these guys play. I had a racquet at home and I just started going every day."
Poling would ride his bike down to the courts where the head coach of the Tars, Norm Copeland, took him under his wing. Whether it be luck or just mere coincidence, it was a fortunate landing spot for a young Poling. Copeland wound up in the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame following a 38-year coaching career in which he racked up 732 wins, the most in Division II history.
"I went there every day and fell in love with college tennis."
Poling's constant work over his teenage years paid off. He went on to be a highly successful player at Clemson University in the late 1960's. His slew of accolades include earning an ACC Championship in the fifth singles and second doubles flights as a junior while going 18-2 in singles that season. Poling helped lead his team to an ACC title as a senior in 1969 where he also won the championship in the top doubles position. In all, he boasts top-five win percentages in school history in singles (fifth - 78.0 percent) and doubles (third - 78.3 percent).
Poling joined the Army following his playing days and served in the Vietnam War. He reached the rank of First Lieutenant and earned a Bronze Star. His triumphs as a player and time spent serving his country are fitting for a coach at the United States Military Academy.
A few more stops were made before finally settling in West Point. Poling got his first head coaching gig at Mississippi State before heading to the likes of South Alabama, Tulsa, and finally, Rollins. He led the Tars to a Division II National Championship in 2001 and added three other top three finishes during his tenure.
Poling shrugs off the notion that his past stops in coaching play a large part in his coaching now saying, "I learn something new every day, every year."
"New ways of doing things, making it more challenging and more fun," continues Poling. "The key here is you know these guys are probably going to be spent by Thursday. You better have something fun to do on Thursday and Friday if you don't have any matches."
Coaching at a service academy provides challenges that are unique to this place alone. Cadets have to be awake at the crack of dawn for a day full of class, various formations, practice, and homework. Due to the strenuous schedule, the players cannot be at their peak every day.
"A lot of days when they come out here, I ask them 'how much is in your tank?'" says Poling. "They'll say how much they have that day. If they tell me a nine and give me a three or a four, then I am not very happy. We ask them to give us what they have in their tanks. We know the tank isn't always full at this point."
Poling expounds that the players need to be "true warriors" like the one philosopher Joseph A. Campbell writes about. They must give as much effort as they can each day to not only get the best out of themselves but the best out of their teammates.
"The true warrior says yes to it all and that's what we preach here. Rainy day, bad day, windy day, cold day, you're tired, you're getting cheated, great day, you accept it all and say 'I'm a true warrior, I got it.'"
Randy Rowley, the men's tennis assistant coach now in his seventh season, also made a number of varying stops before West Point at other colleges and instructing junior players and professional players. He sees the differences clearly.
"I was at Texas Tech and at Kansas," says Rowley, "and you get players in there thinking they are going to try the (professional) tour. They're always a little sidetracked beyond what they need to be looking at. Here, it's the task at hand. They are not constantly thinking about the tour or this and that. They know where their place is in tennis and they try to get the best out of their tennis and are realistic with it."
He enjoys the schedule that the Cadets have to follow because of the values it instills in them and the mindset it generates.
"For me as a coach, Cadets are just a different type of kid. They're very task-oriented; they like regiment, they like discipline, they like the structure. They love that stuff. As a coach, it's much easier to work with."
Tennis a much more personal sport for the dynamic between coaches and players than any other. Poling is composed and collected on the court, perhaps something that has carried over from his playing days, a common trait among successful tennis players. He is not demonstrative in his critiques of his players' maybe because he knows tennis is a small part of their lives and that greater challenges await while serving their country.
"It's a smaller group so we have more time to sit down and talk with them," says Rowley. "You really get a chance to spend more time with their individual needs as a tennis player, but also with the personal things such as their parents, brothers and sisters. The nature of tennis where you're not being hit but thinking through points, we don't have to scream and holler."
Rowley continues and says with a chuckle that "we still do (yell) at times, because they are 18-year olds and you need to get their attention," but reiterates the point that there is a deeper relationship saying "you can really sit down and talk to them on a deeper level whether it's personal or about their game."
It is a family and that is the culture Poling and Rowley have built. One that was not immediately implemented.
"I think it takes at least five years to learn how to coach at this place," remarks Poling. "This is a unique place and you don't know which guys are going to be serious (at first). After a few years, you figure out when you have a conversation with these recruits, you can tell if they are serious or not, even when they never directly say it."
"We've been through a couple different cultures," says Rowley. "When I first got here it was a 'run through the wall' kind of culture. There wasn't a whole lot of thought even as coaches. It was more motivating than coaching. Through the years we've tried to recruit more individuals who are tennis players in mindset. More thinkers, those kind of things. It's made our coaching a lot easier because we actually get to do a lot more coaching. The culture has changed in that sense."
The program has reached new heights with both men in town. The astounding success includes winning 25 straight Patriot League matches, regular season or postseason, excluding Navy. The triumphs over the Midshipmen have been there as well, as the current crop of seniors has never lost a Star Match.
Yet, these two men are remarkably dissimilar.
"We are as far opposite as you could possibly be, and it is the absolute greatest," Rowley says with a grin. "We can pick up where the other may stumble. It helps a lot, especially with recruiting. We are each looking at two different things and we can bring it back and say, 'is this what we want? Is this kid going to fit in here?'"
Poling has an upbeat personality and likes to go with the flow in a sense. Rowley, on the other hand is scrupulous, and prefers when things are scheduled and adhere to that agenda in a timely fashion. Even physically there is a clear difference between the two men; Poling possesses average height but sports a full head of hair and a thick mustache while Rowley's clean-shaven head sits higher than the majority of people he meets.
"We have two different people coaching this team," says Poling. "He has a different outlook of the game. He traveled on the circuit with some pro tournament players. He is more strategic and I think I'm more mechanical in terms of fixing fundamental problems a player has. The two of us together make a pretty good team. He is also very meticulous in his planning and I'm not known for that."
It's a yin and yang or opposites attract situation; they complement each other in an unbelievable way that results in the best for the Army men's tennis program. Rowley states that, "from the outside looking-in, you would probably wonder how we haven't killed each other. But you get inside and look around and see how well we work together. It's fantastic."
"We both have the same goals but just two totally different routes to try and get there and it makes it fun because we can try and combine."
It's led to something more than being colleagues as the two have a strong friendship, which Rowley emphatically says.
"Of all the places I've ever been, this has been the most enjoyable and it's because of coach Poling. When he leaves, it'll be the saddest day for me. I'm not only going to be losing a great friend, but a great coach. He's just fun to be around every day. It's fun going to work every day and it's because of him."
The continuity has done wonders. Last season, the Black Knights posted an 18-9 mark to reach back-to-back 18 win seasons for just the fourth-time in Academy history. They tallied 38 wins combined in the springs of 2014 and 2015, the third-most total over a two-year span.
"We're getting better players," shares Rowley. "When I got here we were getting good players but now, we are getting four and five star players that we weren't getting when I first got here."
Poling cites the incredible facility that is the Lichtenberg Tennis Center as a huge draw in recruiting.
"When people come and see that, they know West Point is making a real commitment to tennis. It's changed our recruiting."
He points at two-time All-Patriot League selection, junior Sam Lampman, and mentions how he was a five-star recruit. Poling brings up that former two-time Patriot League Player of the Year Asika Isoh was a five-star recruit too.
"The facility sells itself."
This is coupled with having a support staff to make this all possible. Poling speaks glowingly of Athletic Director Boo Corrigan and how they went on two trips in the fall to sites they had never been to before and the excitement that generated for the team. They followed by visiting Minnesota and Miami (Fla.) in the spring before going back to Florida for a spring break.
"Our athletic director allows us to do these great trips. And that's made a huge difference."
One can begin to see the correlation to trying to build more than just a team, but a family.
"The support staff, Officer Representatives, the sports psychologists, our trainer David Allen. It's a family. The reason we're successful is because this is a family and we're building family values."
It's clear a culture of winning has been established. Earlier this season with a 5-2 win against Connecticut, Poling became the first men's tennis coach in school history to reach 200 career wins at the academy. Army's dominance during Poling's time is simply remarkable and contains a laundry list of accolades. Eight Patriot League titles over that span, at least one Patriot League First Team member every season, and an impressive 90-16 record against current Patriot League teams highlight the Black Knights accomplishments.
This is something that should have been expected when Poling came to town given his history of winning as a player and coach. Mix in his demeanor and having a strong running mate in Rowley, one could expect the wins to continue to pile up. Â
The Black Knights celebrate after a win over Navy
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