26 Nov Hall of Fame Coach
Bill Porter is the winningest high school tennis coach in South Carolina history. I coached his daughter, Kayce, in junior tennis and his son, Lee, in junior tennis and at Wofford. At Wofford, Lee was an outstanding player who played at the top of our lineup.
Although I coached Bill’s kids for years, I’m certain I learned more from Bill and his family than they did from me. Bill is one of my mentors. The Hall of Fame coach spent years winning championships in the afternoon and teaching special needs kids in the morning. At Irmo High School, Bill coached a lot of excellent players. These players share a common bond; they played for Coach Porter. He loved his great players but also loved the kids in his class. Simply put, Bill just enjoys people. He used to take his special needs kids out on the lake on his Boston Whaler. This made such an impression that years later, when it came time for me to buy a boat, there was only one choice…a used Boston Whaler, just like Bill’s.
Bill is now retired from coaching tennis but is still teaching me. On Friday, Bill gave away over 100 bikes to kids who didn’t have one. He worked on these bikes all year. He painted them, gave them new tires, racing stripes, seats, added bells, and painted flowers. You name it, he made a bike for everyone. Bill has fun with the bikes. Just like his winning coaching, he is never the center of attention. He laughs, smiles, and gives it all away for free. There’s so much more to this story that I’ll cover another time, but finding ways to be a little bit like Bill is more than enough for now.