By Coach Jerry Wright

There are several new challenges on the horizon for the 2010 Kalamazoo Valley Cougars Golf Team, as follows: 1) Dick Shilts has given up the position of head golf coach after leading them for more than 30 years. I am honored to have been hired by KVCC after assisting Coach Shilts for the past 3 years. 2) I am an old rookie in the first year as head mentor. 3) The Western Division has accepted Jackson Community College into the conference making a total of 7 teams vying for the title, creating more competition. 4) The added team into the mix increases the number of conference ‘invitationals’ (matches) to an already short six week spring season. 5) Or-ganized practices adds pressure to the student/athletes’ tight schedules to juggle the demands on classroom and academic performance and attendance; early golf schedule practice demands to help prepare them for early spring season weather challenges; and work schedule conflicts.

There are several reasons why we are ready to scale the horizon with a winning trend. We had 14 golfers at the fall tryouts, following a six-week practice schedule to help prepare them. They responded by shooting record-breaking individual scores and team total scores with their best 4 of 5, 18-hole qualifying rounds.

Ten players qualified with scores below 320, meaning they averaged shooting in the seventies with their 4 best rounds. Team totals for the low 4 scores of each of those rounds were 304, 290, 304, and 294 for a total of 1192 strokes!

After the academic eligibility list was posted at year end the team ended up with 8 eligible play-ers, as follows: Jacob Rykse with 290; Keegan White-292; Scott Kugler-306; Jack Early-309; Andrew Bliss-310; Zach Dzuiban-311; Daniel Simmons-314; and Tyler Warren-329.

Other indications that the Cougars will meet the new challenges are as follows: The low six ‘A’ team members will be spending a week in spring training at Destin, Florida playing the Kelly Plantation Golf Course, as well as several other top-rated Florida golf courses, plus two Alabama courses. Our number two and three players are returning from the 2009 team; White and Kugler were elected by the team as captains for the season. Jacob Rykse, low qualifier, was graduated from Kalamazoo Christian High School in 2009 as an all-state golfer.

We go into the season with our eyes set on the horizon and will be playing one match at a time. I am looking forward to a successful season with the help of my assistant coach, Rick Temple, and volunteer coach, Dan Gregart. Our home courses are Gull Lake East and West, Bedford Valley, and Stonehedge North and South. Stonehedge North and Bedford Valley are the selected course sites of the KVCC Invitational the MCCAA tournament and the NJCAA Region XII tournament.

We expect to do great things this season.  The girls have worked very hard and are determined to be successful.  We have alot of speed to go along with some very good power.  This team has great chemistry, the best I have seen.  We will play hard and compete every game. 

Awards have been a pretty regular occurrence in the career of Cougar all star Jeannie Closson , but this one was very special.  She has been named a Distinguished Academic All American by the National Junior College Athletic Association by virtue of her perfect 4.0 performance in the  classroom over the past two years.  "We have had twelve Distinguished Academic All Americans over our 14 years, but Jeannie is the first with a perfect 4.0 for two years of work." stated a proud Cougar Coach, Ron Welch. "It's very special to accomplish this award, but the way Jeannie did it sort of puts her at another level and she did it in one of the toughest courses of study here at KVCC; pre-nursing.  Obviously we're very proud of her."  Student athletes must have at least a 3.8 GPA after two years to qualify for the award.

     Closson's 4.0 GPA was a catalyst for the rest of the Lady Cougars who were no slouches in the academic area themselves.  The 2008-09 team garnered a solid 3.21 team GPA for the academic year and was named as one of the NJCAA's Academic Teams of the Year.  "Academic excellence has become part of the tradition here in our women's basketball program." said Welch.  "It's a point of emphasis for us every year.  The reality is that they are here to get an education.  If we happen to win some games along the way all the better!  We couldn't be prouder."

     Joining the women's basketball team as an Academic Team of the Year was the Cougar softball team.  Led by Kalamazoo Valley 2008-09 Dale B Lake award winner for female student athletes, Katelyn Bryce, the diamond gems achieved an equally outstanding 3.15 team GPA.  Bryce was near perfect with a 3.95 GPA and had strong support from Parchment's Jennifer Chiechi who ended her valley career with a sparkling 3.75 GPA.

     Congratulations to both teams and their respective coaches for a job well done, both on the field and in the classroom! 

It is a fact of life that in the Community College world of Inter-Collegiate athletics there are times when your personnel losses are significant.  That is the case regarding the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Women’s Tennis team for the Fall of 2010.  The four "veterans", Stevie Fortney, Brittany Johnson, Courtney Diebold and Amber Lytle, of the past season, were significant in helping the team win the MCCAA dual meet Championship for the fourth consecutive year and the NJCAA Region XII Championship for the third time in the past four years.

In spite of those critical losses, the cupboard is far from empty.  Ashley Boender, 2nd flight singles player and 3^rd flight doubles player returns, as does Tricia DeMint 5th flight singles player and 2^nd flight doubles player.  Tricia had an exceptional freshman year as she was undefeated in MCCAA singles league play and also was NJCAA Region XII 5^th flight singles Champion as well as 2^nd flight doubles Champion.  Another key returnee is Caitlin Rutledge.  Caitlin lived in Barrington IL, and moved to the Paw Paw, MI area before school started last year.  Up until high school, Caitlin had been a ranked tennis player in the Midwest, but because she had considerable soccer skills she decided to play soccer when she was in high school.  After her move to the Paw Paw area she decided to attend KVCC and when she discovered that KVCC had a Women’s tennis team she dusted off her racquets, e-mailed Coach Van Zandt and inquired if she might try out for the Women’s tennis team.  After observing Caitlin play, Coaches Van Zandt and Erinn Katt could tell that Caitlin was “rusty” but that underneath that tarnished coating was some excellent talent.  The coaches recognized that KVCC was very fortunate to have very fine 1^st and 2^nd flight doubles teams, so, consequently, they decided to give Ashley Boender and Caitlin the opportunity to work their way into becoming a, hopefully, strong 3^rd flight doubles team.  Those two young ladies exceeded the coaches expectations by going undefeated until the semifinals of the NJCAA National Tournament in Tucson, AZ, last May.

The other five members of our 2010 Women’s Cougar tennis team are very eager to begin practice so that the season can get under way.  Many of the newcomers had the kind of success in high school that makes them want to see if their high school experiences will carry over to the new adventure of Inter-Collegiate Community College tennis.  Coach Steve Scott and Coach Van Zandt are ready to assist them to achieve their dream!

Front Row (L-R) Caitlin Rutledge, Tricia DeMint, Sydney Batts, Angela Leahy, Haley Ellsworth.

Back Row (L-R) Head Coach Jim Van Zandt, Ashley Boender, Stephanie King, Jill Waigand, Assistant Coach Steve Scott.

One of the most often asked questions I have answered during the weeks leading up to the beginning of the season is, “are you guys going to be as good as you were last year?” or “do you guys have as good of a team as you did last year?” These questions have often solicited a response such as, “I have no idea, my crystal ball is broken, but I hope so!” This question is very complex to answer. One of the most difficult characteristics of coaching at this level is that the team changes every season. Every year we graduate sophomore experience and leadership while replacing it with freshman curiosity and freshness.

In-between the two are last year’s freshmen who have become this year’s sophomores. The 2010 Lady Cougars will return four sophomores and one transfer sophomore and look too them to represent why sophomores are so important. They take their experience and leadership and assist the freshman in transforming their curiosity into normality and their freshness into familiarity.  The five sophomores will have a large task this season as they will be surrounded by nine freshmen. The incoming freshman class represents the largest freshman recruiting class and depth of talent I have overseen since I began coaching at the college level in 2006.

It is impossible to predict how the season will develop and wrap up however there are a few items we are sure of as I write this. There are 14 young women who have committed themselves over the next few months to continue the winning tradition that has been established at Kalamazoo Valley. These young women have devoted themselves to a rigorous pre season workout,  achieving high expectations within the classroom, surpassing the demands of their coaches, and most of all having fun with it all. Assisting these young women will be two returning coaches, three “rookie” coaches, a seasoned manager, and a trainer from the west coast.

I don’t know how the season will conclude nor am I interested in comparing this year’s team to last year’s team. They are two totally different teams with two totally different personalities with way to many different dynamic changes to even make a comparison. I would not be honest if I did not have a desire to have a repeat season of last year. I wish my crystal ball that is tucked away in the coaching closet was working so I could put to rest all the questions everyone has about the season. But until I can find someone to repair it, I guess we are going to have to rely on good ole fashion hard work, passion for the game, persistence on the court, perfection during practice, and patience along the way and remind the team and myself that no matter how the season goes and concludes, it will finish with each of us making new friends, having new experiences, forming new memories, and most of all having lots of fun. 

Good luck Lady Cougars, your coaches love you!