Setting the Standard.
Fifty years later, the Clinton High School AAA State Championship Tennis Teams of 1971 - 1974 are remembered as, not only tennis, but all Red Devil athletics’ standard-bearers.
“One state champion is wonderful. Four, that is phenomenal. I applaud you, I thank you for setting the standard for our athletes. It is truly an accomplishment,” said current CHS tennis coach Clovis Simmons, at last Saturday evening's 50th reunion dinner and program for these tennis teams.
“There is a quote I use with our boys’ and girls’ teams. ‘On a team all players will not get the same recognition; but on a championship team, every one of you is a champion. You will always be a champion. No one will ever take that away from you.’ Congratulations to the champions.
“As coaches, we are not just teaching our sport, but we are modeling for these young ladies and young men how to become young ladies and young men, and to go on into our communities. We build our community and we are proud of it. Each of you lit the torch that our present teams and our future teams will continue to carry. Thank you. Tennis is a sport that you will play for the rest of your life. Congratulations and go Red Devils.”
The CHS Athletic Booster Club organized the reunion, which had three parts:
A lasy Friday lunch at the Joanna Fire Department hosted by the Clinton Legacy Group;
A last Friday evening halftime recognition at the home football game; and
A last Saturday evening dinner and program in the CHS Auditorium. All members of the 4-consecutive state champion teams were contacted, and invited to as many of the events as they were able to attend.
Also recognized at the Saturday event was the 1999-2000 CHS Boys’ Tennis State Championship Team, coached by Simmons.
Her son, Allen Simmons, a member of that state title team, said tennis in Clinton often could be humbling. “I was the number one player in the state, and I wasn’t even the number one player in my hometown. You (1971-74 champions) are part of the culture and fabric of the community. Andy B. (Young, coach of the 1974 title team) taught me how to cheat - ‘if it’s close, call it out.’ Henry Blalock throws his pickelball racket like I throw my racket - my mom reminded me there are bigger things in life. It was such an honor, mom, playing for you. Tennis is an individual sport, but you’ve got to play for a team and that’s what I enjoyed the most.”
A part of Clinton lore that many, perhaps, do not really know is that the coach with 6 football state championships has 3 more as tennis coach.
Keith Richardson (pictured) said, “I was not a tennis coach. I didn’t know anything about tennis. I had a lot of parents — Dickie McSween’s mother — who reminded me of that quite often; but I knew how to get them there on time. I could do that. We showed up. I taught them a little bit of discipline, I think. I made them work out a little more than they were used to in the game of tennis. They were used to just playing, as Steve (Gaines) said, and that’s fine, too; but, overall, the ones who were on teams that I was the so-called coach were talented. They were prepared. They represented themselves and their familiars and our school. They were great people. We had a good time; we took a family trip to Charleston … It’s been a great pleasure to be involved in this sport, that I knew nothing about, but I do watch it sometimes. We got us a professional coach in 1974 (Andy B. Young) and that produced a state championship and that was very fortunate, too.”
A member of those teams, a veteran tennis coach, and recently SC Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Waldron said Clinton Tennis History goes back to the 1920s and 1930s, when pros came to play here, in the spring for 15 years, and Presbyterian College became a national NAIA tennis power, known as “Tennis Tech.” Players then watched these tennis pros, and spent time with them - then passed that knowledge to the next generation. Waldron has been coaching Clinton Junior Tennis for 5 decades, and passes on the fabled stories of Henry Blalock’s wicked forehand and Steve Gaines’ powerful serve.
Waldron said, “Dick McSween played Davis Cup, a huge honor for junior tennis; he was our leader.
My best friend was Peter Undari and I was watching him taking a lesson. I wanted to learn how to play that game. I loved it from the first day I saw it.”
He related that the Red Devil boys have 5 state championships and 8 runners-up, which means Upper State championships. There was a 5-year run, 2017 - 21, of Upper State championships - “we played at state against these tennis academies and we still compete (against them),” Waldron said. On the boys’ side, 21 region championships, and on the girls’ side 7 Upper State titles and 18 region titles.
That’s 39 Region Champions in CHS tennis history.
Most notably, there have been 50 All-State players since the 1971-74 teams, 1 Girls’ 3A Player of the Year, and 1 Boys’ honorable mention during the Covid year. Clinton players have won 2,000 junior tennis tournaments. Of major pride to the coaches are 250 major sportsmanship award winners. Clinton has and has had 225 college players - 119 of whom attended college on scholarships.
“That is the standard set by this group of guys,” Waldron said. “It was an honor to be part of this event. It was an honor to talk about my teammates.”
G.W. Dailey, chairman of the Rufus Sadler Tennis Foundation, said the 1971 - 1974 teams embody the Spirit of Clinton - Tradition, Pride and History. He noted, “In South Carolina, only three teams have achieved what these teams did first - four consecutive state championships. The tradition and standards set by these teams are still pushing all Clinton athletics today, 50 years later.”
