new program – Houghton STAR

Next fall, yet another sport will be introduced to the athletic department at Houghton: tennis. Coach Charlie Ellis will lead both the men’s and women’s teams.

Ellis has over 30 years of experience within the tennis world. He began learning what he could at a young age until he joined the tennis program at the University of Georgia. Ellis was ranked eighth in college tennis and then went on to be first in the state of Georgia, earning a World ATP top-300 ranking. From there Ellis went on to coach and then settled into the field of club management, where he has stayed for over 20 years.

The nationwide search to find Houghton’s first tennis coach was extensive and competitive, in hopes of finding a near perfect fit to Houghton’s athletic program. Athletic Director, Harold Lord, said that Ellis was ideal for this position. Lord believes that Ellis will be a “quality member to the department, campus, and community”.

Up to this point Ellis has developed numerous tennis programs for all ages and skill levels ranging anywhere from toddlers to elite adult players. He also spent time as the general manager for Sportime Fitness in Schenectady, NY where he taught lessons to over 100 players. In addition, Ellis founded Fair Play Tennis, a company dedicated to helping young athletes create individual plans to enjoy and succeed at playing the game of tennis.

Ellis approaches this new opportunity with three principles in mind. He begins with the foundation of a faith based team with players who “show a godly respect for one another.” His next principle is that each athlete will have a particular group of people who will be devoted to promoting and maintaining his or her academics. Lastly, Ellis wants the team to “enjoy the journey of getting better at tennis.”

As Ellis looks forward to the upcoming season, he is eager to be working at a college level again. He said he wants to “get as many people involved and interested as possible in embracing the game of tennis.”

Lord said that the addition of tennis will hopefully create a different atmosphere on campus, spurring students to play recreationally. He said that, “tennis is an intercollegiate sport that will last a lifetime.”

As a result of the integration of NCAA tennis into the athletic program at Houghton, the first season will have an abbreviated schedule. The season is also split, with the women’s team beginning with their Empire 8 conference meets in the fall while the men’s team participates in non-conference events. The teams will then switch in the spring.

Each team will consist of approximately 12 to 15 individuals who will play both singles and doubles matches. The season will conclude in the spring with the NCAA National Championship.

Bethany Chesebro, freshman, began playing tennis sophomore year in high school. She chose Houghton knowing that there were plans to form a tennis team. Chesebro said she is excited “about being part of a team and being challenged at a more competitive level.”

Along with the rest of the spring sports, the baseball team’s pre-season training will be put to the test in two weeks. Their season will officially begin Friday, March 1 when the men play against St. John Fisher at a neutral site in New Jersey.

As last year was their opening season, the team struggled in the wins and losses column. There will be new starters at center field, second base, and right field due to graduating and injured players, but essentially the rest of the team is returning. With a year more of experience under their belts, the men have different goals for this season.

“I’ve seen tremendous improvement this year…Their camaraderie and brotherhood is just fantastic. I have coached baseball for 15 years and this is the most fun I’ve had coaching baseball,” said Coach Brian Reitnour. “I’m really pleased with the progress we’ve made and I just want to see them continue to strive for excellence in everything they do, not just baseball.”

“Goals, realistically, are definitely to do better than last year. We want to finish with a 500 record or greater,” said junior captain Ignacio Villalobos. “In preseason rankings we are last in our conference, so we want to prove that wrong. And at least be in the top four.”

“I want to make sure we aren’t going to be run over by teams, because we are good enough, we just have to finish, because that was a problem last year,” sophomore Michael Kerr said.

Not only has the team been practicing together for the past three weeks, but they have also been involved in service projects in the area. Last Friday night they volunteered at Houghton Wesleyan Church with the Valentine’s Dinner. They also help out with Little League in Fillmore.

Members of the team have highlighted the spiritual community they have built together. “Devotionals have helped us get closer knit as a team. Even the freshmen have been really involved, which has been really cool to see,” said Villalobos. “The guys [who] came back from last year have really found team chemistry from it; just focusing on the right thing: having the purpose of playing for Christ and the goal of being successful on the field.”

Kerr said, “We find joy in the hard work. Our team chemistry is better than it has ever been since we started the Bible study.”

“We are trying to be a team of grace and that is difficult within competitive athletics, because grace and competition in most people’s minds don’t mix. But I want to show them that they can; that it is not necessarily about reducing your opponent to an object, but allowing them to push you to become the best human being you can be,” said Reitnour. “It is about how can I make my brothers better, how can I be a witness, how can I use baseball as an act of worship?”

With all other athletic teams and intramurals sharing time in the gym, it is difficult for each team to get adequate training. The baseball team has made use of Burke Field when they can.
“Having the turf facility here is amazing,” said Reitnour. “Once we have the baseball field completed, that will be even better, because then we won’t have to compete with men’s and women’s lacrosse, or softball. But I’m pretty used to being in a gym at this time of year.”

The projection for the completion of the baseball field is sometime this summer, meaning the team will not be able to make use of it until preseason next fall. In the meantime, most of their home games will be played at Bolivar-Richford High School, a 45-minute drive south of Houghton. They will also have one game at Dwire Stadium in Batavia and play a four game series against Stevens Tech at St. Bonaventure.

“I know this year that will be tough with our games farther away, but I would really like this to be a place that people want to play because of the community,” said Reitnour. “I really hope we get some good support from the other teams and people [who] don’t even play on campus.”