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Ingram
secures 300th victory With a 6-1 victory against Houston Saturday, the women’s tennis team gave head coach Roland Ingram perhaps one of his best presents — his 300th victory as a Horned Frog. Ingram said Monday he couldn’t believe he had accrued that amount of victories. “I didn’t realize it was that many,” Ingram said. “Actually, I thought it was much more. When you’ve been coaching as long as I have, they just all run together.” In 18 seasons at TCU, Ingram has coached six top-25 teams, including this year’s, and he has won two conference titles. Ingram earned honors as a two-time Southwest Conference Coach of the Year and as Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2000. In addition to a successful record, Ingram said he has enjoyed his time as a Frog. “TCU has been unbelievable,” Ingram said. “I love the city, I love the university, and (TCU has) a great faculty.” Ingram began his coaching career in 1966 at Amarillo High School. While Ingram said that he loves coaching at a university, there is one aspect that he misses about his first coaching job.
“If there was some way that I could incorporate teaching history or English, this would be the perfect job,” Ingram said. “I wouldn’t trade this job for anything in the world, but I taught for seven years (at Amarillo), and I miss that.” In 1974, Ingram took the head coaching position at Midland Junior College, and won the NJCAA National Championship, the national singles competition and the national doubles competition in his first season as a collegiate coach. Before coming to TCU in 1984, Ingram served as head tennis professional at Colonial Country Club for seven years. Assistant coach Lauri Moore, who was a sophomore on Ingram’s first team at TCU, said Ingram’s success has a lot to do with his relationship with the players. “(Ingram) cares primarily and individually for the girls,” Moore said. “He’s interested in them personally, not just as players.” Moore spent three years as a Horned Frog under Ingram and said that in her playing years, as well as in the three years she has served as assistant coach, variety has been a cornerstone of Ingram’s practices. “He makes practice fun,” Moore said. “He’s very flexible. He changes practice to keep things interesting.” As a college player at Schreiner College in Kerrville, Ingram won both the singles and doubles national championships at the 1961 Junior College Championships. He completed his degree at the University of North Texas, earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Moore recalled a crucial point that has held true throughout Ingram’s career at TCU. “He still uses the same jokes,” Moore said. Ingram has been laughing all the way to his 300th victory.
John Weyand |
