Heritage Hall's Dick Villaflor named National Tennis Coach of the Year

Heritage Hall girls tennis coach Dick Villaflor almost didn’t believe it at first. Villaflor, the face of Charger tennis, was named the national tennis coach of the year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association on Wednesday night in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Villaflor was the only Oklahoma coach to win a national honor.

“I was kind of stunned,” Villaflor said. “This is really pretty amazing.”

Villaflor led Heritage Hall to another Class 4A state championship. The year was also special for Villaflor as it was the final time he would be able to coach one of his kids.

His daughter Carissa, who has signed to play at Newman University in Kansas, won her third state championship.

There were eight Oklahoma coaches up for the national honor. In order to be considered, each had to earn the Region 5 award, which includes Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The other Oklahoma coaches considered were Okmulgee’s Danny Morgan (athletic director), Red Oak’s Trey Booth (baseball), Capitol Hill’s Donny Tuley (boys basketball), Bethel’s Jerry Johnson (girls basketball), Ardmore’s Steven Ross (golf), Barnsdall’s <strong>Joe Gilbert (softball) and Muskogee’s Bobby Jefferson (wrestling).

***

Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com