Former Player Returns to Lead Team as Coach
This is a neat story. When Phil Wayne played No. 1 singles on the J. Taylor Finley Middle School tennis team he was one of the best ever as an eighth grader against very tough competition. Now, more than a decade later, he has returned, this time as coach, guiding the Falcons to a fine 9-3 mark against a set of strong foes.
Wayne is finishing his first year as a social studies teacher at Huntington High School, his alma mater where he helped lead the Blue Devil varsity net team to a Suffolk title as a senior. He went on to a distinguished four year career on the University of Delaware NCAA Division I team and later earned a master’s degree at Loyola College.
Finley had a very competitive team in 2008, but many of the players then were eighth graders, requiring Wayne to assemble a squad with many new faces this spring. He called the Falcons a “fun team to work with. Most players were willing to listen and work on new elements of their game.” Such teaching and learning is an essential part of middle school sports.
Finley was led by eighth grade singles players Sam Johnson (10-2), Max Fehrs (11-1) and Josh Morris (11-1). Wayne said that Johnson is the “ultimate competitor, [a] smart player who will only continue to get better.” Fehrs, who is part of a family steeped in tennis, is an “intense player [with a] very strong forehand,” the coach said. Morris is “very consistent” and he “rarely made mistakes.”
The biggest victory of the season came when Finley topped Smithtown Great Hollow/Nesaquake, 4-3, a team loaded with talented players.
Looking ahead to next year, the Falcons will return a handful of current players, with Marc Feldman and Anthony Spinthourakis displaying the most promise this past spring.
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