Here are all of the Central Oregon players and teams to ever win a high school tennis state championship. 2017 was a banner year as boys team, boys singles, boys doubles and girls doubles titles were captured.

BOYS TEAM
2017 – Summit
2016 – Summit
2015 – Summit
2014 – Summit
2012 – Summit
2011 – Summit
2009 – Summit

GIRLS TEAM
2012 – Summit – Ryan Cruz
2011 – Crook County – Lloyd Rodgers
1985 – Bend – Dennis Nielson
1984 – Bend – Dennis Nielson

BOYS SINGLES
2017 – Carter Quigley, Summit (5A)
2012 – Paxton Deuel, Summit (5A)
2011 – Paxton Deuel, Summit (5A)
1993 – Scott Mendenhall, Sunriver Prep (3A)

GIRLS SINGLES
2007 – Laura Krull, Summit (5A)

BOYS DOUBLES
2017 – Garen Gasparovic/Peter Rutherford, Summit (5A)
2012 – Matt Larraneta/Matt VanHemelryck, Mountain View (5A)
2009 – Paxton Deuel/Adam Krull, Summit (5A)
2008 – Josh Guyer/Tyler Walsh, Summit (5A)
2007 – Alex Walentin/Cody Kohlmoos, Summit (5A)
1982 – Brock Brooks/Derek Wallace, Madras
1981 – Brock Brooks/Derek Wallace, Madras

GIRLS DOUBLES
2017 – Sebulsky/Wecker, Summit (5A)
2016 – Collier/Vezo, Bend (5A)
2015 – Winch/Vezo, Bend (5A)
2012 – Brown/Morgan, Crook County (4A)
2011 – Brown/Morgan, Crook County (4A)
2011 – Younger/Brodeck, Summit (5A)
2010 – Shephard/Drakulich, Summit (5A)
2009 – Nelson/Oliveira, Bend (5A)
1994 – Brynn Abby/Heather Taylor, Bend (4A)
1989 – Kirsten Abby/Shea Abby, Bend

It’s a fresh start, a new school year, a new sports season and your kid may be playing on a new team. This is a great opportunity for you to be a new and improved sports parent. Here are three things I recommend for an improved sports experience for everyone involved.

“I love watching you compete!”
How you talk to your child after competition.
It’s so easy to coach your child the moment they get done with a competition. It’s also easy to tell them what should of happened. How they “should” have played, what their coach “should” have done… You have to ask yourself if you are enriching their experience or are you just alleviating your frustrations? Competing can be scary! You have to put yourself out there and lay it on the line. To go out and compete only to have your parent, the most important person in your world, have critical things to say about what you just did is an experience zapper. What I mean by that is playing sports is an experience. When you are done playing, how you talk about that experience can either amplify it or zap it.
“I love watching you compete! It was so cool how you slid on that one play!” = Amplified!
“I wish you would give 100%, you look like your not trying your hardest out there.” = Zapped
Keep it simple and positive.

“What can I do to help?”
Being a positive part of the coach’s experience.
I’m headed into my 15th year as a head coach and the only time I’ve ever thought about giving up coaching, which I love, was after negative experiences with parents. No athlete, coach, administrator or game has ever left me questioning if I want to coach. But I can quote you three parent conversations that made me question if it was worth all the time, effort, energy and sacrifice that goes into coaching.
The coaches I know are good people. They want to make it a good experience for their athletes. They aren’t perfect and they could probably use your help. If you make yourself available to help, they’ll probably take you up on it. I’m not talking about being an assistant coach, sometimes that works for all involved. But I think the biggest help you can offer to a coach is to treat them with a thankful spirit and to offer up your availability. Little things like transportation, setting up chairs, offering to clean or repair something… wow, that goes a long ways!

“Go team!”
Be a fan of the whole team, not just of your child.
You are your kid’s biggest fan, I get it, you’ve got a vested interest in their success and happiness. That’s good. But you need to remember that they are going to learn a lot by being part of a team. They are going to learn the most from you and how you treat the team may set the tone for that experience. If you are a fan of the whole team, that’s going to facilitate your child being a good teammate. If you are critical of the team, the coach and everyone other than your child, what can you expect your child’s attitude to be? I’ve had some amazing parents on my teams over the years. Here’s a few steps toward being a superstar team fan. Know the kids names. Cheer for them when they do something well. Don’t speak critically of anyone when you are in the stands (or ever if you can manage that). High fives for everyone. Point out great play by kids other than your own after competition.

I hope this can be of some help to you and that you’ll enjoy the experience of your child playing sports. It’s a small window that closes quicker than you think. I just had a parent of an athlete I coached against for four years tell me how much they miss the experience of their kid playing high school sports. Enjoy it!!!

If this is a subject that interests you, you can find more resources from Bruce Brown of Proactive Coaching.

Josh Cordell is the head boys tennis coach at Summit high school. His teams have won five state championships in the past seven seasons. He has also coached basketball.

I’m so excited to let everyone know that I’m shooting a documentary on the highly addictive and incredibly fast-growing sport of pickleball. You can follow the project here.

Support the project – @ Indiegogo.

This is such an exciting project, as the sport of pickleball is so unique and it’s rare to be able to be a part of something that is so early in it’s growth. It’s truly a compelling story to be told and I’m having a great time doing it! Right now I’m in the fundraising stage and would appreciate any help you can give. I have an Indiegogo campaign going with some great “perks” available for those who contribute. Please check it out!

Here’s Kevin Boss Ice Bucket Challenge.

Here’s mine
Josh Cordell
Not too exciting, except for the look on my daughter Taylor’s face after she dumped the water on me.

Dakota Thornton of Bend with the longest/most hardcore ice bucket challenge video.

Sign up for the Central Oregon Junior Tennis Ladder

SUMMIT TENNIS IS A NO CUT TEAM. 
STATE Team Champions 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2009.
IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Mark your calendars for Friday-Sunday July 6-8, 2018 for the Summit Tennis Alumni Weekend and Tournament.

Carter was named the best high school tennis player in Oregon at the 2017 Oregon Sports Awards!!!

Don’t worry if you are on court 1 or court 4 or court whatever. Make the court you are on the best court to be on by giving your very best focus, attitude and effort. Control what you can control.

2017 Team Captains – Tomas Todd, Joshua Marine and Dylan Warren.

2018 Varsity Schedule (so far)

Monday, February 26 – First day of tennis practice.

Friday-Sunday, March 2-4 (unofficial team event) tournament @ The Athletic Club of Bend.

Friday, March 16 – Summit vs Jesuit @ Athletic Club of Bend

Thursday, March 22 – Summit @ South Salem, Salem

Friday & Saturday, April 13-14 – Summit Invite @ Athletic Club of Bend (Summit, Bend, Mountain View, Grant, Crescent Valley & Ashland) – Teams are all set.

Friday & Saturday, April 20-21 – Summit @ Marist Tournament, Eugene (Summit, Marist, Churchill… so far)

Friday & Saturday, April 27-28 – Summit @ Redmond Tournament, Redmond (Summit, Bend, Mountain View, Redmond, Ridgeview, Churchill, La Salle, Marist… so far)

Saturday, May 5 – Summit @ McMinnville Tournament, McMinnville (Summit, McMinnville & Beaverton) – Teams are all set.

Friday & Saturday, May 11-12 – Summit @ District Tournament, Hermiston? (Summit, Bend, Mountain View, Hermiston, Pendleton, Hood River & The Dalles) – Teams are all set.

Thursday-Saturday, May 17-19 – Summit @ State Tournament, Portland

Don’t worry about being better than anyone else, just focus on being your best!
2017 State Champions!!!
• Oregonian Article

• All the Central Oregon Tennis State Champs Ever

Head Coach – Josh Cordell – joshcordell127@gmail.com 541-639-7127 (email and text are best to get a hold of me)
Assistant Coach – Steve Berg
JV Coach - Steve Mickel – ssmickel@gmail.com
Assistant Coach – Josh Johnson (in charge of scouting in Hawaii)
Summit boys tennis is a no-cut team that has won seven state championships in the past nine seasons.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO BE ON THE E-MAIL LIST FOR THE 2018 SEASON, PLEASE SEND AN E-MAIL TO – joshcordell127@gmail.com

It’s time to make a strong, organized push for the Summit tennis courts to be redone after the 2017 season.

If you are looking for Winter opportunities to play Contact Jason at the Athletic Club of Bend.

Jason Quigley
541-385-3062
tennis@athleticclubofbend.com

Kevin Boss and I talk about local Central Oregon sports, world sports and everything in between.