PUC hits 'ace' with Donn Gobbie
Julie Sipek
Issue date: 11/30/09 Section: Sports
Next fall, PUC will expand the athletic program to include several new sports, one of which is men's tennis, which will be coached by the very experienced Donn Gobbie.
Gobbie has 21 years of coaching experience at high school and college levels and is currently working at Indiana University Northwest.
According to Gobbie, he never paid for tennis lessons and got to where he is today through his own hard work.
"It began when I was growing up in Gary. I was into a lot of sports. A bunch of us would walk up to the park where I started taking free [tennis] lessons and I really liked it," Gobbie said.
When Gobbie was in high school, his family moved and he transferred to a small, rural school without a tennis team. However, that did not stop Gobbie from competing in his favorite sport.
"I played so much on my own that I was able to get a scholarship to a small school in South Carolina," Gobbie said.
Gobbie played tennis for one year at North Greenville College. He then transferred to Indiana University Northwest but did not play tennis there.
Gobbie began his coaching career in 1979 at Lew Wallace High School in Gary. He also coached at IUN, Valparaiso University, Gary Roosevelt High School, Hammond High School and St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, IN.
A few titles Gobbie holds are tennis director of the city of Gary, league director of world team tennis in Northwest Indiana and commissioner of tennis for the Hoosier State Games. This tennis veteran has a lot of plans for the PUC program.
"I would like to develop a program to give players who aren't quite at the big state school level an opportunity to play at a state school," Gobbie said.
Although Gobbie has never started a program, he knows recruiting is going to be important.
"Even though [men's] tennis is going to be a no-cut sport, we will begin recruiting heavily at the high schools in the next few months because, as of now, we only have four or five guys currently at PUC who will be trying out," Gobbie said.
Gobbie said although he is not necessarily expecting to have a very successful first season, it is going to be an interesting one.
Gobbie has 21 years of coaching experience at high school and college levels and is currently working at Indiana University Northwest.
According to Gobbie, he never paid for tennis lessons and got to where he is today through his own hard work.
"It began when I was growing up in Gary. I was into a lot of sports. A bunch of us would walk up to the park where I started taking free [tennis] lessons and I really liked it," Gobbie said.
When Gobbie was in high school, his family moved and he transferred to a small, rural school without a tennis team. However, that did not stop Gobbie from competing in his favorite sport.
"I played so much on my own that I was able to get a scholarship to a small school in South Carolina," Gobbie said.
Gobbie played tennis for one year at North Greenville College. He then transferred to Indiana University Northwest but did not play tennis there.
Gobbie began his coaching career in 1979 at Lew Wallace High School in Gary. He also coached at IUN, Valparaiso University, Gary Roosevelt High School, Hammond High School and St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, IN.
A few titles Gobbie holds are tennis director of the city of Gary, league director of world team tennis in Northwest Indiana and commissioner of tennis for the Hoosier State Games. This tennis veteran has a lot of plans for the PUC program.
"I would like to develop a program to give players who aren't quite at the big state school level an opportunity to play at a state school," Gobbie said.
Although Gobbie has never started a program, he knows recruiting is going to be important.
"Even though [men's] tennis is going to be a no-cut sport, we will begin recruiting heavily at the high schools in the next few months because, as of now, we only have four or five guys currently at PUC who will be trying out," Gobbie said.
Gobbie said although he is not necessarily expecting to have a very successful first season, it is going to be an interesting one.
Be the first to comment on this story