Wed - 06 Jun
Written by Tom Fruehling
As a longtime ardent booster of the Iowa high school coed tennis tournament, it’s fitting that veteran Kennedy girls coach Vance Fuller would finish his career at the meet this week.
And his Cougar duo of Sarah Lasecki and Riley Galbraith sent him off on a high note, finishing second at the event Tuesday in Des Moines to an all-star pair from Ames in a nail-biter.
“This may be hard for some people to believe,” said Fuller’s friend Randy Krejci, who has been involved in state tennis circles for more than 40 years, “but Iowa remains the only state in the union that still has a coed program.
“Vance has had a team at the tourney since he began his distinguished career. I can’t think of a better way for him to end it.”
Fuller, who graduated from Kennedy the first year it opened in 1968 and retired as a teacher there in 2008 after 34 years, began coaching the varsity girls team in 1992. He took his first team to the coed meet that year and has done so ever since.
In his 16 years as head coach, his squads put together a 224-51 dual record (81 percent) and won eight conference titles.
He turned over the reigns to trusted aide Joe Benedict five years ago, but stayed on the staff as the assistant coach. He’s now stepping down for good, he said.
“My wife Barb and I want do some more traveling,” said Fuller, who taught business education and has been a substitute teacher since his retirement. “Our older daughter Carrie has one-year-old twins, and we want to be able to see more of them.”
Fuller has left a legacy, as both coach and educator.
“Vance made the Kennedy program what it is today,” said Benedict, who served under him for 10 years before the two switched roles. “It was really nothing when he started.”
Fuller, in fact, recalled well when the Cougar girls defeated Washington in his third season. “That was a big deal, to beat Wash," he said. "That was our goal.”
And it was only the beginning. In his final seven years, he took six teams to the state tournament and five of them finished in the top three. He reached the pinnacle in 2007, his last season, by winning the state championship.
A multiple recipient of conference coach-of-the-year honors, Fuller was a finalist for the national high school award the following year.
“But,” said Krejci, the Harding Middle School principal who is retiring this year and was a former colleague at Kennedy, “his great success as a coach is only part of it.
“More than wins and losses, his biggest impact came from his relationship with kids, in the classroom and on the courts.”
Over all of his years in teaching, for instance, he was in charge of the very popular and highly honored Distributive Education (DECA) program at Kennedy.
“He was known as Mr. DECA,” said Krejci, “and he touched a lot of lives in a very positive way.”
Benedict also noted that a hallmark of Fuller’s tenure as tennis coach was his ability to draw girls into the mix. The Cougars regularly numbered as many as 100 players on the roster.
“Vance developed a practice routine and scheduling so every one of them was able to participate,” Benedict said. “I just continued what he started. I’ve tried not to mess up a good thing."
Krejci, among many others, knows Fuller’s departure from the coaching ranks will be missed.
“You could hardly find a nicer guy than Vance,” he said. “And it was never an ego thing with him. He’s always really cared for the kids. He’s been a role model and a friend to everyone.”
