Leavell: boys tennis Coach of the Year

May 23—SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake Eagles’ Tennis coach Lee Leavell was named boys coach of the year by the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference after last week’s district tournament.

“I have been blessed with really good players to coach, not just boys, girls included,” Leavell said.

The boys team ended the season with an overall record of 8-2-1 this year with the girls ending the season 3-8. Leavell said while the boys had a lot of success this season, he is still very happy with the efforts shown by the girls team.

“I had a great girls team this year that I think are going to do great in the future,” he said.

Leavell said the success of the boys team this season is very impressive for a 1B team competing with 2B schools. This season marks the second year in a row that the Eagles will end with an overall winning record.

“Even though my boys are getting older, I’ve still got one more year with them, so I’m pretty happy about that, and I’ve got a pretty young girls team that’s going to be a force to reckon with in the future,” Leavell said.

Leavell said he started his own tennis career in his freshman year of high school, from a bet that he made against his high school PE teacher.

“I bet my high school PE teacher that I could beat him and some other student at tennis,” Leavell said. “I had never played, and I (won) and I really enjoyed it after that.”

Leavell had always been a baseball player, but after this, he decided he would try out for tennis. The following summer, he spent his free time going out and playing against his father.

After high school, Leavell joined the military for five years, and when he returned to civilian life, he got right back into tennis, giving lessons while working at the Ellensburg Raquet and Recreation Center. He then worked at the Yakima Tennis club for a year before earning his teaching certificate with Central Washington University.

“That’s kind of what I always wanted to do is be a teacher and coach tennis,” Leavell said.

He graduated from college during the year of COVID and eventually was hired by Soap Lake High School in 2021. At the time the Eagles did not have a tennis team, but did have the courts to play, so with the help of Athletics Director Erin Allen they put together a tennis team.

It was a struggle at first, but Leavell has enjoyed the opportunity to build the team from the ground up, he said.

“There was no background in tennis here so it’s like we lost everything,” he said. “But it was great, I had glimpses of hope and then as the years have gone by, I felt we were slowly getting some players returning and those players were helping the new ones come in.”

Much of what has been accomplished with the building of the tennis team would not have been possible without the help of assistant coach Clarissa Larsen, he said. She joined the team last year and the team has seen a growth in their success since then.

“I believe a lot of that has to do with her help,” Leavell said. “She has been just as dedicated as I have been to this, she has put in the time, she cares for the players, she really wants to see the success of this program and I’m just really grateful for her.”

Leavell said he is incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished in the short time since its creation. This season the boys team will be sending Xavier Ewing to the state tournament.

The most important part in starting this program and what he wants to continue with isn’t just to keep striving for greatness and state championships, but to introduce as many students to the game of tennis as possible, Leavell said.

“This is a sport they can keep playing for the rest of their life, it’s a sport that they can have a healthy outlet with,” he said. “Really, the most important thing I want to see out of the future is more students trying tennis, getting out and finding a hobby that maybe they didn’t know exists.”